The Relationship between Teacher Autonomy Support and the Attitude and Anxiety toward Mathematics Course

Abstract

The purpose of the present research is to determine the correlation between attitude and anxiety of seventh and eighth grade students toward mathematics course and behaviors of mathematics teachers to support and exhibit learner autonomy toward mathematics course. The population of the research was consisted of 1.563 students and 35 mathematics teachers from 22 schools. Research data was collected by means of Learner Autonomy Support Scale and Mathematics Course Attitude and Anxiety Scale. Conclusively, it was revealed that eighth grade students were more anxious, their anxiety levels and attitudes differed according to their success levels, and that they did not exhibit statistically significant difference according to their genders and teachers’ genders. It was determined that there is no statistically significant correlation between level of teachers’ support for learner autonomy and students’ anxiety and attitude levels toward mathematics course.