A study of the causes of Mathematics anxiety in Form 2 female students

Abstract

The aim of this study was to identify which mathematics activities, topics and situations Maltese secondary female students associate mostly with anxiety. It also aimed at shedding light onto the origins of this anxiety and to identify any environmental, social and personal influences that could affect female students’ perception towards mathematics. Data was collected through a questionnaire administered to all Form 2 (ages 12-13) students in a Church school for girls and semi-structured interviews with five students from the same group who were considered as anxious towards mathematics. The results were then analysed and compared to those obtained by Chinn (2012b) in the United Kingdom. The results obtained indicated that tests and any other activities related to examinations such as hearing your score for a mathematics test and showing your mathematics report, were the primary cause of anxiety in secondary female students. In addition, rote learning and mental arithmetic were also found to increase mathematics anxiety. Furthermore, the culture of doing mathematics quickly was found to be a stumbling block in students’ learning of mathematics as it was considered by many participants as one of the major contributors to anxiety.