Discusses the fear and anxiety of mathematics that has existed for decades. Proposes that mathematics is not just a construction of knowledge but also a construction of attitudes and beliefs. (ASK)

This paper describes the experiences of two pre-service primary teachers in a teacher education subject focusing on mathematics and learning difficulties. It describes how bibliotherapy was a powerful reflective tool that provided them with the opportunity to respond cognitively and affectively to their own schooling. By analysing readings about…

For years, mainstream thinking about math anxiety assumed that people fear math because they are bad at it. However, a growing body of research shows a much more complicated relationship between math ability and anxiety. It is true that people who fear math have a tendency to avoid math-related classes, which decreases their math competence.…

The number of students continuing with their mathematics education post GCSE level has declined in recent years and hence students entering Engineering degrees are reducing. The University of Birmingham recognized this problem and introduced the Suite of Technology programme (STP) which no longer requires students to have A-level mathematics.…

The culture of the young may, in fact, be a harbinger enticing us to follow a pathway from which will emerge the re-conceptualized educational practices of this new century. The culture of those older will, no doubt, strive to maintain the more golden aspects of their now historical learning experiences. One of the tasks of all educators, but…

Questionnaires completed by 147 professionals and interviews completed by a subgroup of 15 individuals measured attitudes about mathematics. Each subgroup member admitted to negative feelings. Reasons offered for mathematics difficulties focus on three major areas: (1) conceptual or intellectual considerations, (2) motivation, and (3) the…

The author discusses some of the reasons why people fear mathematics and some steps a teacher may take to alleviate such fear. (SJL)

A counselor and a mathematics professor at Stephens College (Columbia, Missouri) reach faculty advisers through mathematics anxiety workshops that offer ways to reduce the female fear of figuring. The advisers learn how to recognize math anxiety and how to face up to the anxieties. (CT)

Studied the construct validity of the revised Math Anxiety Rating Scale (L. Alexander and C. Martray, 1989) using a sample of 815 college students. Results show that the revised measure may represent a more parsimonious and valid measurement approach than the original scale for assessing mathematics anxiety. (SLD)

Discusses the similarities between mathematics and sex as a nonlinguistic means of communication and for which there is a fear of performance failure. (MDH)

Submitted the Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale (MARS) (F. Richardson and R. Suinn, 1972) to a reliability generalization analysis to characterize the variability of measurement error in MARS scores across administrations and identify characteristics predictive of score reliability variations. Results for 67 analyses generally support the internal…

Statistics anxiety is hypothesized to be a closely related but a distinct construct from mathematics anxiety. However, many incorrectly conceive that statistics anxiety is the same construct as mathematics anxiety. Confusing statistics anxiety and mathematics anxiety is common among students as well as researchers. Frequent appearance of…

The self-worth theory of achievement motivation holds that in situations in which poor performance is likely to reveal low ability, certain students (known as self-worth protective students) intentionally withdraw effort in order to avoid the negative implications of poor performance in terms of damage to self-worth. In this study, evidence of…

The majority of new jobs in the 21st century will require some postsecondary education. Yet more than one third of those entering college are underprepared and needful of remediation. In this essay the author shares with the reader his first experience of teaching the lowest level prealgebra course at an urban community college. This is a story of…

Development of mathematical problem solving skills is an age old problem in mathematics. This paper details the design of a component of a first year university mathematics course in which group work and mathematical communication skills, especially writing skills, are used as a tool to develop non-routine problem solving skills. In this design…