Despite the fact that mathematics is present and necessary in any area of daily life, students have little interest in developing mathematical skills. Hence, the aim of the study is to check whether the variables motivation, usefulness, anxiety, confidence, and liking are determining in their attitude towards mathematics. The present research is…

This paper attempts to generate a comprehensive description of the nature of mathematics anxiety through a synthesis of: (1) the general and test anxiety literatures applied to mathematics anxiety; (2) the mathematics anxiety literature, and (3) case studies developed through in-depth interviews. The indepth interviews were conducted with seven…

The basis of test anxiety expressed by 219 university students (43 percent males) in a statistics course was explored, and a structural model was developed. The data indicated that anxiety felt for the statistics test differed from general test anxiety. The variables revealed as important by the model are discussed. (SLD)

Although women are entering male-dominated occupations at a greater rate, they still tend to avoid those occupations, as well as college majors that require math. Lack of an adequate math background, and thus lower math achievement, seems to effectively bar women from high level, technological, and male-dominated occupations. This study examined…

A key to continuing occupational segregation by sex is seen to lie in "math avoidance" by women students. Borrowing from the insights of affective education, innovators have developed "reentry mathematics" courses which turn to self-conditioning, the attitudes, the psychological mindset, and the self-defeating behaviors of…

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that mathematics-related self-efficacy mediates the effects of gender and mathematical preparation and achievement on mathematics-relatedness of college major. The responses of 117 undergraduates to a series of inventories and questionnaires yielded seven variables descriptive of the…

Information on Project Turning Point, an educational equity model for mature minority women at the nontraditional State University of New York College at Old Westbury, is presented in this report. Minority women have essentially been locked out of mobile careers due to sexual and racial discrimination and lack of adequate preparation in…

Presented are the following reports: (1) Math Anxiety: Real and Complex; (2) Math Anxiety and Middle School Students; (3) Math Anxiety and College Freshmen; (4) Math Anxiety and Elementary Teachers; and (5) Math Anxiety: Conclusions, Discussions, and Remedies. The studies attempt to answer questions regarding mathematics anxiety: (1) what is it,…

The math-related interests and academic-choice intentions of black college students (N=164) are explored. A social cognitive path model offered good overall fit to the data. Although racial identity contributed little to the model, self-efficacy and outcome expectations predicted interests, which predicted choice intentions across racial attitude…

Many preservice teachers confront their own lack of confidence and actual mathematics phobia for the first time in their math procedures classes. This study was designed to explore the application of a confluent education intervention, a model based on the premise that all learning is accompanied by an affective as well as a cognitive component,…