Abstract

THE EFFECTS OF MATHEMATICS ANXIETY ON THE ACHIEVEMENT OF SENIOR SECONDARY TWO STUDENTS IN JOS NORTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF PLATEAU STATE

Jerry Z.Y, Desmond B.B, Rose Z.

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Abstract Mathematics has been viewed as a tough subject due to factors like anxiety and methods used for teaching. Anxiety itself has resulted to poor performance in the subject Mathematics. This study was designed to investigate the effects of Mathematics anxiety on the achievement of senior secondary two (SS2) students in Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State. The study was guided by one research question and one hypothesis. The hypothesis was formulated based on the research question and was tested at 0.05alpha level of significance. Survey research design was adopted for the study. A sample of 120 senior secondary two students was selected from a population of 4234 for the study. Two instruments were used in gathering data for the study. The instruments were; the Mathematics Anxiety Scale Questionnaire (MASQ) adopted from Driscoll and Mathematics Achievement Scores (MAS). The MASQ instrument were 4-point Likert type Scales. The data collected were analyzed using SPSS software. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research question while chi-square for testing independence was adopted to test the hypothesis. The findings showed that Mathematics anxiety exists among senior secondary two students and has great effects on their achievement in Mathematics. The findings also revealed that there is a significant relationship between anxiety and students? achievement in Mathematics. The educational implications were pointed out and the following recommendations were made; The Government through the ministry of education should direct teachers to identify Mathematics anxiety among Secondary School Students develop means of helping them overcome the anxiety for effective teaching and learning of mathematics in schools, workshops or refreshed courses should be organised for all Mathematics teachers annually at National, State and local offices level so as to guide mathematics teachers to create positive attitude toward Mathematics for effective teaching and learning of Mathematics, teachers should always find ways of creating and sustaining students interest in Mathematics, among others. Keywords: Senior secondary, school, Mathematics, anxiety, Achievement.

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