Mathematics Anxiety Among 4th And 5th Grade Turkish Elementary School Students

Abstract

Using a sample of 4th and 5th graders, this study investigated whether students’ mathematics anxiety differed significantly according to a group of variables. A total of 249 students participated in the study. “The Mathematics Anxiety Scale for Elementary School Students” and “The Personal Information Form” were used for data collection. Independent samples t-tests, Oneway Anova and Schefee test were used to analyze the data. Results showed that students’ mathematics anxiety differed significantly according to gender, whether they liked mathematics class or not, whether they liked their mathematics teachers or not and the achievement level in mathematics. Female students reported significantly higher mathematics anxiety than males. Students who liked mathematics class and those who liked their mathematics teachers had lower anxiety. Students with higher achievement in mathematics reported lower degrees of mathematics anxiety. However, results did not show any significant difference in students’ mathematics anxiety with respect to their grade level and gender-stereotypes about success in mathematics.