How do you measure maths anxiety?

Today I was asked: 'how can we measure maths anxiety?' The original research measure tool is a 98 -item questionnaire, known as MARS (maths anxiety rating scale). There are shorter versions, but you would need to pay to use the MARS. (see http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12674278)

One alternative is to use a 10-item questionnaire derived from the work of Fennema and Sherman, known as the MAS (maths anxiety scale, Betz 1978). A copy of this is freely available for members of the University from the University Library.

Or if you just wish to gauge roughly how big the problem is in your learning community, for example, to decide where best to try an intervention, you can ask the question:

“On a scale from 1 to 10, how maths anxious are you?”

Núñez-Peña, M., Guilera, G and Suárez-Pellicioni, M (2014) ‘The Single-Item Math Anxiety Scale: An Alternative Way of Measuring Mathematical Anxiety’ Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 2014, 32(4), 306-317.

Sue Johnston-Wilder : 10 Oct 2014 14:21 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

References related to Coaching for Mathematical Resilience

Here is a collection of references to support those who might wish to undertake research related to Coaching for Mathematical Resilience

cfmr_references.docx

Sue Johnston-Wilder : 10 Oct 2014 14:05 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Eatmon (2009)

Writing about web page http://www.pmena.org/2009/proceedings/AFFECTIVE%20ISSUES/affectBRR369980.pdf

Eatmon, D. (2009) 'A case study of resilience based on mathematics self-efficacy and social identity' in

Swars, S. L., Stinson, D. W., & Lemons-Smith, S. (Eds.). (2009). Proceedings of the 31stannual meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education. Atlanta, GA: Georgia State University.

Available from

http://www.pmena.org/2009/proceedings/AFFECTIVE%20ISSUES/affectBRR369980.pdf(1st March 2012)

In this article, self-efficacy and identity are identified as key ingredients ofresilience in learning mathematics but the issue of growth belief is not addressed so this is not yet a complete description of mathematical resilience

Sue Johnston-Wilder : 14 Sep 2014 00:26 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

A course for Coaches of Mathematical Resilience

This poster gives an overview of our work developing Coaches for Mathematical Resilience, working with people who were maths-anxious when they started. It was presented at PME2014 in Vancouver.

poster_final.pdf

Sue Johnston-Wilder : 12 Sep 2014 09:44 |  Tags: Coaches |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Importance of Mathematical Resilience to National Numeracy

Writing about web page http://www.nationalnumeracy.org.uk/resources/72/index.html?term=resilience

"Mathematical resilience is an important theortical development within the study of mathematics, and it compliments the ideas of Carol Dweck's Mindset - that abilities can be developed thorugh hard work and support.

A strong focus of National Numeracy's work is the campaign to tackle negative attitudes towards maths, and helping people to develop mathematical resilience is part of this work."

Sue Johnston-Wilder : 12 Sep 2014 09:35 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Schweinle & Mims (2009)

Writing about web page http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11218-009-9094-2

Schweinle A. and Mims G. A (2009) Mathematics self-efficacy: stereotype threat versus resilience. Social Psychology of Education, 12(4), pp 501-514

Starting from mathematical 'self-efficacy', this paper examines the mathematics self-efficacy of 170 fifth-grade students, and discusses the results in terms of resilience and identity.

Sue Johnston-Wilder : 12 Sep 2014 09:29 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Children describe what mathematical resilience is to them

Follow-up to Developing Mathematical Resilience among Aboriginal Students from Mathematical Resilience

Children from the project school

http://vimeo.com/38675402

Sue Johnston-Wilder : 12 Sep 2014 09:17 |  Tags: Mathematical Resilience |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Developing Mathematical Resilience among Aboriginal Students

Writing about web page http://www.merga.net.au/documents/Thornton_Statton_&_Mountzouris_2012_MERGA_35.pdf

Abstract

"The processes of mathematisation, the use of mathematical models and representations of

real world contexts, and contextualisation, the embedding of mathematical ideas into a

meaningful context, are key aspects of students’ mathematical learning. We present a

conceptual framework for thinking about mathematising and contextualising developed as

part of the Make it Count, a national project that seeks to develop an evidence base of

practices that improve Indigenous students’ learning in mathematics. We suggest that an

intentional focus on mathematisation and contextualisation helps to make mathematics

meaningful, particularly for Indigenous students. In particular we suggest that such a focus

has the potential to enhance the mathematical resilience of Aboriginal students."

Cites:

Johnston-Wilder, S. & Lee, C. (2010a). Mathematical Resilience. Mathematics Teaching, 218, 38-41

Johnston-Wilder, S. & Lee, C., (2010b). Developing mathematical resilience. Paper presented at the BERA Annual Conference, 1-4 Sep 2010, University of Warwick

Sue Johnston-Wilder : 12 Sep 2014 09:14 |  Tags: Mathematical Resilience |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Gatsby–funded Survey of Apprentices

Our Gatsby survey was extended as a paper-based survey to end September 2014: maths_anxiety_questionnaire.pdf

The maths specific survey questions are a combination of Betz (1978) and Kooken et al (2013):

Kooken, J.,Welsh, M., McCoach, D., Johnston-Wilder, S., Lee, C. (2013). Measuring Mathematical Resilience: An application of the construct of resilience to the study of mathematics. Paper presented at national conference of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, CA.

Sue Johnston-Wilder : 28 Aug 2014 13:18 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem