Lions and Tigers and Algebra, Oh My! Taking a Global Look at Math Anxiety
When we think of common fears and phobias it is likely our thoughts turn to creepy crawlies or dizzying heights. But for the average reader, there’s a good chance you might find math more fear – or anxiety – inducing than any spider or cliffside. Perhaps you can remember the raw adrenaline that came with having to solve a problem on the blackboard at the front of the classroom. Or maybe you refused to raise your hand in math class for fear of simply getting something wrong. Math anxiety is surprisingly common, occurring in as many as 1 in 5 students in some estimates [1].
Students with math anxiety often fear performing poorly on tests and when solving problems in real time. However, neuroimaging studies have revealed that this fear can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Worries and anxiety about math can override the cognitive resources needed for problem solving, effectively making it harder to think clearly about the math problem you are solving [2]. Higher levels of math anxiety have been linked to lower math achievement [3].
The fear isn't limited to Canadian classrooms, as Dr. Nathan Lau, a post-doctoral fellow at Western University’s Numerical Cognition Lab explains. Math anxiety can be found in students across the world and can continue to affect people into adulthood as well. Just as how a person with a fear of flying might choose to avoid airplanes, math anxiety can be the determining factor in a person's career path. Studies have shown math anxiety prevents people from pursuing careers in science or technology [4].
But what causes math anxiety to be such a constant phobia across the globe, despite differences in culture and curriculum? And what can students do to overcome the fear? These are the questions Dr. Lau asked in a 2022 study that looked at global influences of math anxiety across 46 countries. The aim of the study was to determine how math anxiety differed across countries by measuring how it affected math achievement, and what caused the anxiety to develop in the first place.
Lau and colleagues used data from two previous large multi-country studies on academic success. In total they collected math achievement and anxiety data from over 1.1 million 4th and 8th grade students across 46 countries. Then, they organized potential sources of math anxiety into three different levels:
1) Student-level factors which referred to characteristics like age, gender, and home situation.
2) Classroom-level factors which included class size, teacher experience, and how often homework was assigned.
3) Country-level factors such as life-expectancy, literacy rate, and cultural attitudes.
The researchers then compared scores of math anxiety (from a student-answered questionnaire) and math achievement across countries to determine what was causing anxiety in each country and how greatly it affected student performance.
They found the biggest sources of math anxiety came from student-level factors no matter what country a student was from. Across all countries, student-level factors had the largest impact on math anxiety and the most negative effect on math achievement. In many ways, the consistency across countries is welcome news, as it means the same methods can be used to help students overcome their anxiety no matter where they live. On top of that, Lau suggests treating student-level sources of anxiety may have the biggest impact on overcoming the fear and improving math achievement overall.
The single biggest source of math anxiety was a student's attitude towards their teacher. Students who felt their teachers were good at teaching and treated them fairly had less anxiety about math overall and scored better on math tests as a result. This was true across all countries studied. However, for some countries, like Canada, the effect of the student-teacher relationship on math anxiety was more pronounced.
Around half of the countries in the study found that classroom-level factors had a part to play in math anxiety as well. In these countries, teachers who assigned more math homework to their students saw an increase in the math anxiety felt across the classroom. However, the more confident a teacher was the less anxious their students felt overall. Assigning more homework is not the marker of a bad math teacher or a poor curriculum – but may increase the uncertainty felt by students who are already struggling with the material. Interestingly, Lau also found a cultural difference between the countries that had these additional classroom-level sources of anxiety and those that did not. In countries that place higher value on following social rules and authority, classroom wide sources of anxiety had no effect on test scores.
In the end, it seems math anxiety is a phobia as far reaching as the fear of spiders. But while the reasons for math anxiety tend to be common across all students, the fear can be overcome. For Canadian classrooms which have student-driven and classroom-wide effects causing anxiety, it's the teacher that seems to make all the difference. The quality of the student-teacher relationship helps students to feel supported as they tackle new and often challenging mathematical concepts. Teachers who are more confident and have more experience with the curriculum effectively combat the math anxiety that students feel, breaking the link between anxiety and poor math performance.
So, if the thought of doing algebra in front of a live audience fills you with the same dread as the thought of falling into the snake exhibit at the zoo, consider showing support for your local teachers. Their first line of defense against the math boogeyman can be made all the more effective by increasing the amount of time teachers have to prepare their lessons and work closely with their students. Some policy changes that would help include reducing classroom sizes and improving professional training for teachers and other educational workers. After all, the experiences a student has with math in the classroom might just go on to shape their future.
Original Article: Lau, N. T. T., Hawes, Z., Tremblay, P., & Ansari, D. (2022). Disentangling the individual and contextual effects of math anxiety: A global perspective. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 119(7), e2115855119. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2115855119
References:
[1] https://www.apa.org/monitor/2023/10/preventing-math-anxiety
[2] https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/human-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2015.00202/full