A Study of Math Anxiety in Male and Female Students at BA ISAGO University: Empirical Evidence

Abstract

This study attempts to investigate whether there is any statistically significant difference in math anxiety for male and female students at BA ISAGO University. To assess the students' feelings towards Mathematics, two short instruments were used. The first questionnaire had fifteen math anxiety constructs. The other instrument captured nine questions based on math anxiety constructs in which students were to respond "yes" or "no" to the questions. The population of the study consisted of all BA ISAGO University students across all programmes from which two samples were taken at different stages. The first sample had 254 while the other one was made up of 232 students. The sampling methods used were mixed: random, convenience and purposive. Descriptive, ANOVA and Chi Square analyses were used. Three sets of results came out clearly in this study. Firstly, using a sample of 254 students, the study concluded that there were statistically significant differences between the means for male and female students in respect of "fearing mathematics", "getting worried with mathematics", "avoiding math in their modules" and "avoiding math all together". In the second test, using a sample of 232 students, the study found that there were statistically significant differences between students who said "yes" and those who indicated "no" to "fearing mathematics", "feeling uneasy", "getting worried", "experience a mind block" and "getting bored" with regards mathematics were rejected. Lastly, using the same sample of 232, it was found that there were no statistically significant differences between students who said "yes" and "no" to "fearing to ask", "liking mathematics modules", "liking mathematics in general", and "sweating".

The Effect of Math Anxiety on Boarding School Students' Mathematics Learning Outcomes during Online Learning

“…(2tailed) of 0.002 < 0.05, so as the basis for decision-making in the independent sample t-test, it can be concluded that H0 is rejected and Ha is accepted. Thus, there is a significant (significant) difference between the average math anxiety level in the male and female groups (Al-Shannaq & Leppavirta, 2020;Ganley et al, 2021;Nyakudya & Nyakudya, 2020).…”

“…Previous research has investigated the link between gender and math anxiety levels. The previous research findings reveal differences in math anxiety levels between male and female students (Ganley et al, 2021;Nyakudya & Nyakudya, 2020). Meanwhile, the results of other studies show that there are no differences in math anxiety levels between male and female students (Milovanović, 2020).…”

“…Various aspects that correlate to math anxiety have been studied by previous researchers such as gender roles, math performance, mathematics ability, learning motivation, and learning style (Al-Shannaq & Leppavirta, 2020;Altakhyneh, 2020;Amam et al, 2019;Milovanović, 2020;Muhammad, 2017;Nyakudya & Nyakudya, 2020). Previous research has investigated the link between gender and math anxiety levels.…”

Sorotan Literatur Bersistematik: Faktor Yang Mempengaruhi Kebimbangan Matematik Dalam Kalangan Pelajar Sekolah Menengah

“…Kepentingan matematik juga dipersetujui oleh Yilmaz (2019) yang menyatakan ekoran daripada perkembangan teknologi, matematik telah menjadi semakin penting dalam kehidupan harian manusia. Walau bagaimanapun, terdapat ramai pelajar yang berasa takut dengan subjek matematik dan mengalami kebimbangan matematik (Nyakudya & Nyakudya, 2020).…”