A project was designed to evaluate TEAM, a math anxiety reduction program for undergraduate students preparing to be elementary school teachers. The program consisted of two main components: (1) instruction intended to improve problem solving skills using the areas of patterns, probability, measurement, approximation, and estimation; and (2)…

This symposium includes five presentations of studies of mathematics attitudes at three educational levels: junior high, postsecondary, and graduate school. The studies have implications in the fields of mathematics education, educational research, academic advisement, and career counseling. The studies identify the extent of the problem of…

Math anxiety is discussed as it affects men, and especially women, and two suggestions are made to help students combat it: creation of special sections for hesitant students at all levels of introductory math; and math clinics for students with immediate or remedial math problems. (JMD)

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.…

A discussion of programs and techniques used to deal with student difficulties in learning math and science highlights the efforts of the Claremont Colleges, the College of St. Catherine, Gustavus Adolphus College, Iona College, Mississippi State University, and Stetson University. (MSE)

This paper presents a method of assessing math anxiety based on self-reported descriptors used to evaluate various personality traits in college students. A secondary purpose of the paper is to report the results of applying such an inventory to a group of college mathematics students. (PK)

Secondary teachers in a workshop on overcoming computer and math anxiety and students in a programming course were given measures of anxiety and achievement. Low mathematical ability and coursework were related to math and computer anxiety and negative attitudes. Attitudes improved for the teachers but not the students. (MNS)

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…

Nine different attitude scales are briefly described. They cover attitude toward success in mathematics, mathematics as a male domain, mother's and father's attitude, teachers' attitudes, confidence in learning mathematics, mathematics anxiety, effectance motivation in mathematics, and mathematics usefulness. (DT)

This article reports on a study that investigated the causes underlying a sample of eighteen third-year Australian pre-service primary teachers' negative beliefs and anxiety about mathematics. It was found that most of the participants' maths-anxiety could be attributed to their primary school experiences in learning mathematics. Situations such…

Many Commonwealth countries are concerned about gender factors in mathematics and science education. Labor market statistics in many developing countries show greater participation rates for men in science in general and in numerically-based disciplines in particular. Available evidence indicates that gender biases account for the difficulties…

A herediscope is a device used to teach genetics while overcoming students' fears of the mathematical aspects of the subject. The herediscope can be constructed from cardboard or heavy paper by individual students. Qualitative inheritance, sex inheritance, random assortment, and population genetics are among the topics taught using the device. (JN)

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)

Groups of adolescent, math-anxious girls were either tutored in mathematics, tutored with self-instruction to reduce anxiety, or received no treatment. Tutoring and self-instruction resulted in increased ranked preferences for math, while math achievement increased more for the self-instruction group. (Author/GK)

An overview of the status of female participation in mathematics is given. Special attention is paid to the evidence that participation in mathematics courses in high school acts as a filter for occupational choice. (MK)