Forty-four male and 22 female students attending an early entrance to college program for talented students completed the Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale. Results indicate that these talented students are less mathematically anxious than typical college students. Females are more mathematically anxious than males, although the finding is not…

This study examined a structural model of mathematics achievement of 2 culturally different groups of Jewish and Arab 8th graders in terms of 5 learner-related variables, namely, gender, epistemological beliefs, self-efficacy, attitudes, and mathematics anxiety. Multigroup structural modeling analysis indicated that the goodness of fit of the…

Students learn at varying rates, and if a misconception in mathematics develops early, it may be carried from year to year and obstruct a student's progress. To identify fallacies in students' preconceived ideas, "Uncovering Student Thinking in Mathematics" offers educators a powerful diagnostic technique in the form of field-tested assessment…

Described in this guide are the techniques used in a mathematics anxiety treatment project. All eighth- and tenth-grade students in two junior high schools and two high schools in a large urban school district were evaluated to determine their "math-anxiety" and "math-achievement" levels. Forty-five junior high and 45 high school girls were…

Presented are four fact sheets relating to mathematics education topics and which were produced by the ERIC Clearinghouse for Science, Mathematics, and Environmental Education in 1981. Fact sheet topics are: (1) Females and Mathematics, (2) The Problem of Problem Solving, (3) Mathematics Teacher Supply and Demand, and (4) Microcomputers and…

Investigated the effects of assertive training on measures of assertiveness, state anxiety, and mathematics performance in highly anxious ninth graders (N=96). Found that assertive training resulted in increased assertiveness and decreased state anxiety, with no significant effect on mathematics performance, and no significant effect due to sex.…

Examined how preservice elementary teachers' (N=38) mathematical knowledge and mathematics anxiety affect their success in a mathematics methods course. Also examined the hypothesis that a mathematics methods course can reduce the mathematics anxiety of these teachers. One finding is that mathematics anxiety does not inhibit their learning of…

Data on the mathematics attitudes and achievement of fourth through sixth grade students were considered in relation to sex of student, grade level, type of achievement test, and time during the school year at which the measurements were taken. (Author/CJ)

Analyzes students' productions, taking affective and social factors into account. Uses the technique of virtual monologue to reproduce the student's voice in order to describe as vividly as possible what might be going on in the student's mind during such situations. (AIM)

Among 852 Finnish high school students (20% academic, 80% vocational), those whose math study orientation style was confidence had higher math achievement. Those whose style was coping or anxiety tended toward lower achievement. Electrical engineering and business students were most confident, academic and handicrafts students least. (SK)

According to social cognitive theorists, people's judgments of their own capabilities to accomplish specific tasks strongly influence human motivation and behavior. Path analysis was used to test the influence of math self-efficacy and general mental ability on the math problem-solving performance of 329 high school students. A model that also…

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…

Results of a study made to determine the effect of male-female class ratio on female student class participation are reported. In spring 1980, an all-female section of an introductory math course was offered in addition to the other five mixed-sex sections at a midwestern university. It was found that women selecting the all-female section had…

This study explored the relationship between students' high school mathematics courses and grades; the affective variables--mathematics anxiety, effectance motivation, and attitude toward success; and performance in the first quarter developmental studies algebra course. The study reports significant differences between males and females on…

The contributions of acceptance of misconceptions about mathematics, mathematical self-concept, and arithmetic skills to mathematics anxiety and to statistics course performance were studied in 92 adult students aged 18 to 57 with a median age of 27, (16 males and 76 females). Results showed that acceptance of misconceptions and mathematical…