ERIC Number: EJ1146598
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0965-948X
EISSN: N/A
Maths Anxiety in Psychology Undergraduates: A Mixed-Methods Approach to Formulating and Implementing Interventions
Thompson, Ross; Wylie, Judith; Hanna, Donncha
Psychology Teaching Review, v22 n1 p58-68 Spr 2016
Due to the empirical nature of the discipline, psychology students, during the course of their degree, are required to become proficient with a range of quantitative methods. Unfortunately many of these students experience high levels of maths anxiety, which can have a damaging effect on this aspect of their educational development. The first study in this paper used focus groups to identify, from psychology undergraduate and postgraduate students, potential interventions that could be used to reduce anxiety in an undergraduate sample. The second study implemented those interventions that were deemed valid and practical on a sample of 246 psychology first and second year undergraduates. The effectiveness of these interventions was mixed, but does suggest further avenues that tertiary educational institutions could take to reduce maths anxiety in their student body, in particular enhancing the use of real-life examples in quantitative methods teaching.
Descriptors: Mixed Methods Research, Mathematics Anxiety, Undergraduate Students, Psychology, Intervention, Focus Groups, Graduate Students, Program Effectiveness, Foreign Countries, Teaching Methods, Small Group Instruction, Teaching Styles, Lecture Method, Attitude Measures, Mathematics, Student Attitudes
British Psychological Society, Division for Teachers & Researchers in Psychology. St Andrews House, 48 Princess Road East, Leicester, LE1 7DR, UK. Tel: +44-1162-529551; Fax: +44-1162-271314; e-mail: directmail@bps.org.uk; Web site: http://www.bps.org.uk/ptr
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United Kingdom
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Fennema Sherman Mathematics Attitudes Scales
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A