Math Anxiety, Problem-Solving Skills and Academic Performance in Mathematics

Education

The purpose of this study was to learn more about how math anxiety together with its contributing factors and problem-solving skills can affect the performance of students in mathematics and how does it shows a relationship between the given variables. A quantitative correlational design was employed. One hundred sixty-six grade 7 students participated and data were gathered using an adopted survey questionnaire for math anxiety, a self-made 40-items multiple choice tests for academic performance with accompanied Table of Specification (TOS) and 5-items word problem-solving tests for problem-solving skills with step by step solution were made. The indicators in math anxiety included environmental factor, cognitive and personal factor. The result showed that the three factors shows a high level of anxiety which indicates oftentimes manifested. However, the problem-solving skills and academic performance in mathematics revealed low proficient and not proficient enough in dealing with mathematical task wherein, both need intervention to increase their level of proficiency in mathematics. The result also showed that there was no significant relationship between math anxiety and academic performance and problem-solving skills and academic performance in mathematics, thus there was no evidence enough to prove their relationship, similarly, some factors may include, study habits, instructional methods, learning resources, or past knowledge, may have a bigger impact on students' mathematical ability. However, the math anxiety that could predict academic performance was cognitive factor. The findings indicated that student’s mindset, belief and mental process on how they perceive the subject on their own pace shows a significant influence on how they perform academically in the subject. The study recommended incorporating teaching strategies, intervention and support to the students to elevate their level of performance in mathematics specially to the students with diverse background.

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