Mathematics Anxiety and Metacognitive Processes

Abstract

This paper presents a proposal for a new area of investigation that connects the metacognition literature, and especially the recently developed meta-reasoning framework, with research into mathematical reasoning, mathematics learning, and mathematics anxiety. Whereas the literature on mathematics anxiety focusses on the end result of learning and problem-solving, the metacognitive approach can offer further insight by a fine-grained analysis of the stages of these processes. In particular, it provides tools for exposing students' initial assessment of tasks and test situations, the targets they set for themselves, the process of monitoring progress, and decisions to stick with or abandon a particular solution. The paper outlines various ways in which the metacognitive approach could be used to investigate the effects of mathematics anxiety on mathematics learning and problem solving. This approach could help in answering questions like: Do anxious and non-anxious learners differ in how they prepare for an exam? Are anxious students more or less prone to overconfidence than non-anxious students? What metacognitive decisions mediate maths anxious participants' tendency to give up on problems too early? Additionally, this line of work has the potential to significantly expand the scope of metacognitive investigations and provide novel insights into individual differences in the metacognitive regulation of learning and problem solving. It could also offer some practical benefits by focusing the attention of educational designers on particular components within the learning process of anxious students.

The impact of mathematics anxiety on self-regulated learning and mathematical literacy

“…Our results suggest that trait MA negatively impacts students' self-reported perseverance, that perseverance has a positive influence on reported self-efficacy which, in turn, positively impacts mathematical literacy. These findings support the framework proposed by Morsanyi et al (2019) and their assertion that metacognitive processes such as perseverance have an impact on mathematical learning but are also shaped by MA and self-concept beliefs. A caveat to note relates to the PISA 2012 construct of perseverance, which was domain-general whereby students were asked to rate their level of agreement to statements assessing willingness to respond to challenges in general learning tasks.…”

“…Given that self-regulation has been conceptualised as an interrelated set of processes involving control, evaluation and adaptation, and the experience of state MA has been linked to overloaded working memory and reduced control of cognitive processes, understanding the interplay between MA and SRL is crucial for initiatives targeted at improving mathematics learning. Morsanyi et al (2019) recently published a framework looking at the relationships between MA and the metacognitive processes involved in mathematical reasoning and problem solving. They propose that MA along with confidence beliefs about mathematics (i.e.…”

“…Most of the literature on mathematics anxiety (MA) has shown that it negatively impacts mathematics literacy by affecting cognitive processes, for example by interfering with working memory processes (e.g. Ashcraft & Kirk, 2001), but there are very few comprehensive studies linking MA and metacognition or SRL in the secondary school context (Efklides, 2011; Morsanyi et al., 2019). Investigating these relationships can offer new insights into how students with high levels of MA initially assess a mathematics task, how they monitor their progress and how much they are going to persevere when solving a mathematics problem (Morsanyi et al., 2019).…”

“…Morsanyi et al. (2019) recently published a framework looking at the relationships between MA and the metacognitive processes involved in mathematical reasoning and problem solving.…”

Metacognition across domains: Is the association between arithmetic and metacognitive monitoring domain-specific?

“…This is a self-reflecting, higher-order cognitive process, which indicates how people monitor and control their cognition during ongoing cognitive processes [2,3]. Metacognitive monitoring is an important aspect of procedural metacognition and is defined as the subjective self-assessment of how well a cognitive task will be/is/has been performed [3,4].…”