Relationship between mathematics performance in an admission test and mathematics anxiety among grade 11 senior high school

Abstract

It has been an alarming scenario in school or even outside of classroom that most students seemed avoiding and even openly expressed dislike or hatred towards mathematics as evident in fewer number of students specializing in this field of studies. Consequently, this study was conducted mainly relating student’s previous performance in a mathematics test to their mathematics anxiety involving 57 grade 11 senior high school students. Specifically, it sought to find students’ gender difference as well as variation in student parent’s highest educational attainment in terms of their mathematics anxiety level, and to determine the relationship between students’ mathematics performance in an admission test and mathematics anxiety. This study was a cross-sectional descriptive research obtaining data once at a particular period in time. Data analysis indicated a significant gender difference in terms of their mathematics anxiety which could be attributed to gender preferences and propensity in mathematics learning. On the other hand, the student parent’s highest educational attainment did not significantly vary students’ mathematics anxiety which could stem from student incognizant take normalizing any connection between their parent’s educational state and their developing mathematics anxiousness. Results also revealed the non-existence of significant relationship between mathematics performance with which students previously engaged and their mathematics anxiety which findings could be inferred as due to student’s predisposition in disintegrating the could-be effect of previous mathematics experience to their mathematics anxiety . In conclusion, there is a significant difference in mathematics anxiety between male and female students indicating female as more anxious mathematically; there is no significant difference in students’ mathematics anxiety when related to their parent’s highest educational attainment, and there is no significant relationship between students’ mathematics performance in a test and their mathematics anxiety. A parallel study suggesting an increase in number of respondents involving various grade levels in different schools or location may be pursued.