The mathematics anxiety: Do prospective math teachers also experience it?

Abstract

Many events illustrate how students who have high mathematical abilities but become unable to solve a mathematical problem due to high mathematics anxiety. So, what about prospective math teachers who work and study mathematics every day, whether they also experience mathematics anxiety? We described the mathematics anxiety of prospective math teachers, examined the effect on mathematics performance, and investigated the differences between mathematics anxiety levels based on gender, year of study, and reasons for choosing a college in mathematics education. The subjects were 148 prospective math teachers. We used the correlation test and alpha Cronbach to test the instrument's reliability and validity, the regression test to see the effect of mathematics anxiety on mathematics performance, and the t-Test and MANOVA to analyze the differences level of mathematics anxiety type for each group. We obtained that the mathematics anxiety level of prospective math teachers was relatively high and had a significant adverse effect on mathematics performance. The mathematics anxiety level of male and female students was the same. The level of mathematics anxiety of first-year, second-year, and third-year students was also the same. The reasons of students chose the study programs did not provide different levels of mathematics anxiety.