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What is the Relationship between Technology and Mathematics Teaching

Anxiety?

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Tatar, E., Zengin, Y., & Kağızmanlı, T. B. (2015). What is the Relationship between Technology and Mathematics Teaching
Anxiety? Educational Technology & Society, 18 (1), 67–76.

What is the Relationship between Technology and Mathematics Teaching

Anxiety?
Enver Tatar1*, Yılmaz Zengin2 and Türkan Berrin Kağızmanlı1
1
Department of Secondary Science and Mathematics Education, Atatürk University, Turkey // 2Department of
Secondary Science and Mathematics Education, Dicle University, Turkey // entatar@gmail.com //
yilmazzengin@outlook.com // turkanberrin@hotmail.com
*
Corresponding author

(Submitted February 17, 2014; Revised May 26, 2014; Accepted July 1, 2014)

ABSTRACT
The aim of this study is to determine the relationship between pre-service teachers’ perceptions regarding
technology use in mathematics teaching and their computer literacy levels as well as their mathematics teaching
anxiety. The nonexperimental correlational research, which is included in the quantitative research approach,
was used in the study. A total of 481 pre-service mathematics teachers constitute the sample of the study. The
mathematics teaching anxiety scale, a perception scale for technology use in mathematics teaching, and the
computer literacy scale were used as data collection tools. Based on the analysis of the obtained data, a low-
level, negative and significant relationship was found between pre-service teachers’ mathematics teaching
anxiety and their perceptions regarding technology use in mathematics teaching. Also a low-level, negative and
significant relationship was found between pre-service teachers’ mathematics teaching anxiety and their
computer literacy levels. It may be concluded that pre-service teachers’ mathematics teaching anxiety decreases
as their perception levels regarding technology use in mathematics teaching positively increases and their
computer literacy levels increase.

Keywords
Mathematics teaching anxiety, Computer literacy, Pre-service teachers, Perceptions regarding technology use in
mathematics teaching

Introduction
Mathematics anxiety emerges when students exhibit illogical emotional reactions or when they are expected or
required to solve mathematics problems (Aydın, 2011). It is considered among the common affective factors that
have drawn attention in recent years (Baloğlu & Koçak, 2006). Many researchers have tried to define mathematics
anxiety. Among these researchers, Dreger and Aiken (1957) defined mathematics anxiety as a syndrome of affective
reactions exhibited towards mathematics whereas Ashcraft and Faust (1994) defined it as the tension, helplessness
and mental disorganization that individuals experience when they are required to perform an operation with numbers
and figures or when they solve a mathematics problem. Mathematics anxiety may cause the emergence of such
behaviors in students as avoiding mathematics courses and developing negative attitudes towards activities that
require mathematical operations (Ma & Xu, 2004). Mathematics achievement, mathematics performance and
applications to education are the factors that impact on anxiety (AsHcraft & Krause, 2007). According to Gresham
(2010), mathematics anxiety is defined as both an affective and a cognitive feature in the nature of individuals who
experience learning problems. Since it is a frequently encountered condition in every stage of education, it is
important to understand and define, and to avoid or reduce mathematics anxiety. According to Skemp, memorized
rules and the manipulation of symbols with little or no meaning are more difficult to learn than an integrated
conceptual structure, and this can result in major slipping blocks for the student (as cited in Newstead, 1998). The
very abstract nature of mathematical symbols adds to the difficulties that people encounter when learning
mathematics, including difficulties in storing and using information in working memory (AsHcraft & Krause, 2007).
It was found by researchers that anxiety towards mathematics plays a significant role in students’ failure in this
course (Arı, Savaş, & Konca, 2010; Baloğlu, 2001; Cates & Rhymer, 2003; Ma & Xu, 2004; Minato & Yanase,
1984; Satake & Amato, 1995; Sherman & Wither, 2003; Zakaria & Nordin, 2008). When the research on
mathematics anxiety (Brady & Bowd, 2005; Brown, Westenskow, & Moyer-Packenham, 2011; Gresham, 2007;
Jackson, 2008; Liu, 2008; Tooke & Lindstrom, 1998; Uusimaki & Nason, 2004; Vinson, 2001) is reviewed, it is
observed that the majority of students and pre-service teachers have mathematics anxiety, and various mathematical
materials and manipulatives (Vinson, 2001) are used and mathematics teaching courses (Gresham, 2007) are
organized in order to reduce this anxiety level.

ISSN 1436-4522 (online) and 1176-3647 (print). This article of the Journal of Educational Technology & Society is available under Creative Commons CC-BY-ND-
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NC 3.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/). For further queries, please contact Journal Editors at ets-editors@ifets.info.
When we examine the literature about pre-service teachers’ mathematics anxiety, we observe that it generally
signifies weak mathematical backgrounds, histories and experiences; it seems instinctual that teachers who possess
negative feelings and abilities in any subject domain, such as mathematics, would have trouble in teaching the
subject to students. Mathematics anxiety can be regarded as a pre-existing condition or a negative mathematics trait
that pre-service teachers experience when they begin teacher training programs. Nevertheless, this emphasis on
mathematics anxiety as a pre-existing condition disregards the anxiety that may emerge due to teaching mathematics
or mathematics teaching anxiety (Brown, Westenskow, & Moyer-Packenham, 2011).

While mathematics anxiety is among the fears that students have, it is considered that pre-service teachers may have
both mathematics anxiety and encounter teaching anxiety as they approach the end of their undergraduate period.
Pre-service teachers’ teaching anxiety is of such great significance in mathematics courses that they experience
difficulty in learning and teaching (Peker, 2006). Mathematics teaching anxiety can be described as pre-service and
in-service teachers’ moods of tension and anxiety emerging in teaching mathematical concepts, theories and formulas
or problem solving (Peker, 2009). Mathematics teaching anxiety can be unrelated to an individual’s insufficient
mathematics history or background. Thus, a person may not encounter mathematics anxiety and may be very self-
reliant about their mathematics knowledge, but they may encounter mathematics teaching anxiety because they are
not self-reliant about their ability to teach children the mathematics that they know (Brown, Westenskow, & Moyer
Packenham, 2011). The symptoms of mathematics teaching anxiety may contain intense nervousness, the inability to
concentrate, negative self-talk, being easily distressed by noises, being unable to hear the students, and sweaty palms
(Peker, 2009). Elmas (2010) found that mathematics anxiety, traineeship, lack of self-confidence and content
knowledge were the factors that caused mathematics teaching anxiety in pre-service teachers. Peker and Halat (2009)
researched the effects of mathematical visualization activities formed with WebQuest and spreadsheets on pre-
service elementary teachers’ mathematics teaching anxiety. From this research, it was observed that WebQuest
activities were more effective in reducing pre-service teachers’ teaching anxiety. It is observed that these activities
that affect teaching anxiety levels may be reduced thanks to technological facilities. It was observed that technology
use in mathematics teaching (Berger, 2010; Erbaş & Aydoğan Yenmez, 2011; Güven & Karataş, 2003; Lagrange,
1999; Marshall, Buteau, Jarvis, & Lavicza, 2012; Wong, Yin, Yang, & Cheng, 2011) positively contributed to anxiety
levels experienced by students and teachers. As a result of technological advances, one contribution is the active role
played by Webquest activities in reducing mathematics teaching anxiety (Peker & Halat, 2009).

Ersoy (2005) stated that a teacher’s consciousness level and beliefs have an important effect on not only starting but
also stopping or preventing a reform movement in schools. For this reason, he emphasized that how teachers
perceive and evaluate cognitive tools and new educational technologies from their point of view is among the
important issues that must not be overlooked in a reform movement. That is to say, how mathematics teachers of the
future perceive this technology is an important issue that we face.

Computer literacy and internet use have become a necessity for both educators and students in order for
technological developments to be effectively used in education. On the other hand, the use of computer technologies
has become inevitable for every field of occupation in developed societies, and computer literacy has emerged as an
important skill for individuals in modern society (Yanık, 2010). He stated that it is important to provide coherent
training in computer literacy beginning from the last year of elementary education and continuing with secondary
education, and previously acquired computer knowledge and skills must be developed in university years for the
purpose of research and problem solving (Yazıcı, 2001).

Nowadays, the correct and effective use of technology in the teaching process by teachers contributes to participating
in courses in a productive manner. Application of technology develops a concrete and experimental approach to
mathematics subjects, and enables students to develop more abstract and symbolic skills (Flores, 2002). There are
various researches on the impact of technology on success (Tajuddin, Tarmizi, Konting & Ali, 2009) anxiety
(Uusimaki & Nason (2004), motivation (Nordin, Zakaria, Mohamed & Embi, 2010) and mathematics learning and
teaching activities (Fahlberg-Stojanovska & Trifunov, 2010).

In-depth description and analysis of the influence of technology on mathematics teaching anxiety will be a
significant step. Identifying the main factors that the impact of technology has on mathematics teaching anxiety is
the focus of the research. How technology will affect pre-service teachers’ teaching anxiety is important because it
offers practical information on teacher training. It is easier and more meaningful to provide the required skills to pre-
service teachers during their university education rather than after they start teaching. This way, we can gather

68
information about the mathematics teaching anxiety levels of pre-service teachers and define variables related to
teaching anxiety. In view of all these factors, the nature of the relationship between technology and mathematics
teaching anxiety has caught the attention of researchers. In this context, the aim of this research is to determine the
relationship between pre-service teachers’ mathematics teaching anxiety and their perceptions of technology use in
mathematics teaching as well as their computer literacy levels.

Method
The nonexperimental correlational research, which is included in the quantitative research approach, was used in the
study. Correlational research involves studies conducted to determine relationships between two or more variables
and to obtain clues about cause and effect (McMillan & Schumacher, 2010).

Sample

This research was conducted with 481 elementary and secondary pre-service mathematics teachers who were
selected using the random sampling method. The sample of the research composed of 320 pre-service teachers who
were studying in four classes in the elementary mathematics teaching program and 161 pre-service teachers who
were studying in five classes in the secondary mathematics teaching program. All the pre-service teachers
volunteered to participate in the research. Table 1 shows the frequency of 463 pre-service teachers who completely
filled all scales out of the 481 pre-service teachers who participated in the study.

Table 1. Frequency of Class Levels and Teaching Area Distribution of Pre-Service Teachers
Teaching Area
Elementary Secondary
Class Level f f
First Class 97 (M:43-F:54) 34(M:15-F:19)
Second Class 65(M:19-F:46) 29(M:9-F:20)
Third Class 76(M:30-F:46) 40(M:17-F:23)
Fourth Class 75(M:36-F:39) 26(M:12-F:14)
Fifth Class — 21(M:12-F:9)
Total 313 (M:128-F:185) 150 (M:66- F: 84 )

Data collection tools

In the research, three instruments were used namely, (1) the Mathematics Teaching Anxiety Scale (MATAS) to
determine pre-service teachers’ levels of mathematics teaching anxiety, (2) the Perception Scale for Technology Use
in Mathematics Teaching (PSTM) to determine their perceptions regarding technology use in mathematics courses
and (3) the Computer Literacy Scale (CLS) to determine their computer literacy levels. Two factors were taken into
consideration in selecting these three scales: sufficiency of validity and reliability studies and the latest scales in
Turkish language.

MATAS, which was developed by Peker (2006), consists of 23 items in four sub-dimensions with a 5-point Likert-
type scale ranging from “1” for “completely disagree” to “5” for “completely agree.” These sub-dimensions are as
follows: anxiety arising from content knowledge (10 items), anxiety arising from self-confidence (6 items), anxiety
arising from attitude towards mathematics teaching (4 items) and anxiety arising from teaching knowledge (3 items).
There are 10 negative items in MATAS and these items are scored by reverse calculation. Peker (2006) found that the
reliability coefficient (Cronbach’s alpha) of the scale was .91. The internal consistency coefficients for each
dimension were .90 for the dimension of anxiety arising from content knowledge, .83 for the dimension of anxiety
arising from self-confidence, .71 for the dimension of anxiety arising from attitude towards mathematics teaching
and .61 for the dimension of anxiety arising from teaching knowledge. In this study, the reliability coefficient
obtained for the complete instrument was .92. Regarding each dimension, the reliabilities were found to be .87 for
anxiety arising from content knowledge, .84 for anxiety arising from self-confidence, .88 for anxiety arising from

69
attitude towards mathematics teaching and .80 for anxiety arising from teaching knowledge. In the scale, the total
score and the scores achieved in each dimension were also computed. The highest score that could be achieved on
the Mathematics Teaching Anxiety Scale is 115, whereas the lowest score is 23 and the average score is 69. The
highest score in the content knowledge sub-dimension is 50, the lowest score is 10, and the average score is 30. The
highest score in the self-confidence sub-dimension is 30, the lowest score is 6, and the average score is 18. The
highest score in the attitude towards mathematics teaching sub-dimension is 20, the lowest score is 4, and the
average score is 12. The highest score in the teaching knowledge sub-dimension is 15, the lowest score is 3, and the
average score is 9. The high scores obtained in this study indicate that the pre-service teachers’ mathematics teaching
anxiety was high. Table 2 shows the number of items in MATAS sub-dimensions, sample items for each dimension
and reliability coefficients.

Table 2. The details of sub-dimensions of MATAS

Sub-dimensions of Number Reliability
Sample items
MATAS of items coefficient
Content knowledge 10 In my teaching profession, I think I feel desperate while .87
teaching mathematics subjects
Self-confidence 6 I feel competent about solving mathematics problems .84
while teaching.
Attitude towards 4 I think teaching mathematics subjects is fun for me. .88
mathematics teaching
Teaching knowledge 3 I can make use of special teaching strategy knowledge and .80
skills while teaching mathematics.

PSTM, which was developed by Ö ksüz, Ak and Uça (2009), consists of 73 items in three sub-dimensions with a 5-
point Likert-type scale ranging from “1” for “completely disagree” to “5” for “completely agree.” The three sub-
dimensions are requirement, advantages and disadvantages. The internal consistency coefficient of the scale was .96
(Ö ksüz, Ak, & Uça 2009). The internal consistency coefficients obtained for the sub-dimensions were .95 for
requirement, .96 for advantages; and .84 for disadvantages. In this research, the internal consistency coefficient of
the scale was found to be .94 while the internal consistency coefficients obtained for each of the sub-dimensions
were .88, .93 and .61 respectively. The highest score that can be achieved in the scale is 365 whereas the lowest is 73.
Items in the disadvantages sub-scale are done by reverse calculation. The total score that can be achieved by reverse
grading of negative items and high score for each dimension define positive perception, while low score defines
negative perception. Table 3 shows the number of items in PSTM sub-dimensions, sample items for each dimension
and reliability coefficients.

Table 3. The details of sub-dimensions of PSTM

Sub-dimensions of Number of Reliability
Sample items
PSTM items coefficient
Requirement 29 The Following Software Are Required for Mathematics .88
Teaching; “specific mathematics software (Sketchpad,
Cabri etc.)”
Advantages 34 Use of technology in mathematics teaching facilitates .93
teaching with a constructivist approach
Disadvantages 10 Use of technology in mathematics teaching causes a waste .61
of time.

CLS, which was developed by Kay (1990) and translated into Turkish by Kılınç and Salman (2006), was used to
determine the pre-service mathematics teachers’ computer literacy levels. The Computer Literacy Scale consists of
24 items with a 7-point Likert-type scale ranging from “1” for “strongly disagree” to “7” for “strongly agree.” The
scale is composed of four dimensions, namely basic skills, application software skill, programming and computer
awareness. Kılınç and Salman (2006) found that the internal consistency coefficients obtained for the sub-dimensions
were .91 for basic skills, .93 for application software skills .91 for programming and .94 for computer awareness.
Based on the data of this research, the internal consistency coefficient of the scale was found to be .92 while the
internal consistency coefficients for each of the dimensions were .89, .88, .88 and .81, respectively. The highest score
that can be achieved is 168 whereas the lowest score is 24. In this study the above average scores signify that the pre-

70
service teachers’ computer literacy levels were positive. Table 4 shows the number of items in the CLS sub-
dimensions, sample items for each dimension and reliability coefficients.

Table 4. The details of sub-dimensions of CLS

Sub-dimensions of Number Reliability
Sample items
CLS items coefficient
Basic skills 6 I can format a new diskette .89
Application software 6 I can teach someone to use a computer software package .88
skill
Programming 6 I can write a computer program in BASIC or Logo .88
Computer awareness 6 I can identify the basic parts of computers and their functions .81

Data analysis

The analysis was performed for 463 pre-service teachers who completed all three instruments. The SPSS 16.0
statistics package program was used for data analysis. Arithmetic mean and standard deviation values were used in
descriptive statistics. Normality analysis was initially conducted on the data in order to determine the most
appropriate test that could be used in analyzing the data. While conducting the analysis, the Kolmogorov-Smirnov
test was used since the number of samples for each measurement was higher than 29 (Kalaycı, 2010). It was found
that the data were not distributed normally in the Perception Scale for Technology Use in Mathematics Teaching,
Mathematics Teaching Anxiety Scale, Computer Literacy Scale and the sub-dimensions of these scales (p < .05).
Therefore, Spearman’s Rank Correlation Coefficient was used when examining the relationships.

Findings
The scores of pre-service mathematics teachers in MATAS including its sub-dimensions are given in Table 5.

Table 5. The scores of mathematics teaching anxiety of pre-service mathematics teachers

n S
Sub-dimensions

Content knowledge 463 18.63 5.61

Self-confidence 463 13.18 3.61
of MATAS

Attitude towards mathematics

463 6.93 2.31
teaching
Teaching knowledge 463 5.88 1.90
Total MATAS 463 44.64 .50

Given the overall average score of pre-service teachers in the mathematics teaching anxiety scale ( = 44.64), we can
conclude that they have low levels of anxiety. Considering the content knowledge ( = 18.63), self-confidence ( =
13.18), attitude ( = 6.93) and teaching knowledge ( = 5.88) average scores of pre-service teachers given in Table
5, we can conclude that they have low levels of anxiety overall in all sub-dimensions.

In this section the relationships between pre-service teachers’ mathematics teaching anxiety and their perceptions
regarding technology use in mathematics teaching as well as their computer literacy levels were analyzed.
Spearman’s Rank Correlation Coefficients of the scores achieved in mathematics teaching anxiety and perceptions
regarding technology use in mathematics teaching are given in Table 6.

As seen in Table 6, a low-level, negative and significant relationship was found between mathematics teaching
anxiety and pre-service teachers’ perceptions regarding technology use in mathematics teaching (r = .240; p < .01).
Furthermore, a low-level, negative and significant relationship was found between the mathematics teaching anxiety
and “requirement” (r = .247; p < .01) and “advantages” (r = .156; p < .01) sub-dimensions of pre-service teachers’
perceptions regarding technology use. On the other hand, a low-level, positive and significant relationship was found
between the mathematics teaching anxiety and disadvantages sub-dimensions of pre-service teachers’ perceptions
71
regarding technology use (r = .150; p < .01). In view of this finding, it can be stated that pre-service teachers who
had positive perceptions regarding technology use in mathematics teaching had lower mathematics teaching anxiety.
When the sub-dimensions were examined, it was observed that pre-service teachers who had positive perceptions in
the “requirement” and “advantages” sub-dimensions of technology use had lower teaching anxiety. Similarly, it can
be stated that pre-service teachers’ teaching anxiety increased as their perception of disadvantages regarding
technology use increased. A low-level, negative and significant relationship was found between perceptions
regarding technology use in all sub-dimensions of mathematics teaching anxiety. The highest-level relationship
between variables was found between “teaching knowledge” that is the sub-dimension of mathematics teaching
anxiety and perceptions regarding technology use in mathematics teaching. This relationship is negative and
significant (r = -.352; p < .01). In view of this, it can be stated that pre-service teachers who had positive perceptions
regarding technology use in mathematics teaching were less anxious in the dimension of teaching knowledge. When
the relationship between other sub-dimensions in Table 1 was examined, no significant relationship of mathematics
teaching anxiety was found between pre-service teachers’ self-confidence and their scores in perceptions regarding
advantages of technology use in mathematics teaching (r = .078; p > .05) as well as their scores in disadvantages of
technology use in mathematics teaching (r = .077; p > .05). Similarly, no significant relationship on mathematics
teaching anxiety was found between pre-service teachers’ attitudes toward mathematics teaching and their scores in
perceptions regarding disadvantages of technology use in mathematics teaching (r = .065; p > .05). Apart from these,
a negative and significant relationship was found between other variable pairs.

Table 6. Relationship between mathematics teaching anxiety and perceptions regarding technology use in
mathematics teaching (N = 463)
Sub-dimensions of PSTM
Variable PST Requirement Advantages Disadvantages
MATAS -.240** -.247** -.156** .150**
** ** *
.149**
Sub-dimensions

Content knowledge -.171 -.184 -.096

of MATAS

** **
Self-confidence -.135 -.139 -.078 .077
Attitude towards mathematics ** ** **
-.247 -.274 -.185 .065
teaching
Teaching knowledge -.352** -.316** -.307** .141**
* **
p < .05. p < .01.

Spearman’s Rank Correlation Coefficients of scores in mathematics teaching anxiety and computer literacy are given
in Table 7.

Table 7. Relationship between teaching anxiety and computer literacy (N = 463)

Sub-dimensions of CLS
Basic Application Computer
Variable CLS Programming
skills software skills awareness
** ** **
MATAS -.247 -.260 -.280 -.010 -.264**
-.192** -.195** -.227* -.218**
Sub-dimensions

Content knowledge -.006

of MATAS

Self-confidence -.259** -.260** -.270** -.048 -.235**

Attitude towards ** ** **
-.166 -.176 -.226 -.014 -.200**
mathematics teaching
** ** **
Teaching knowledge -.224 -.245 -.229 -.023 -.234**
*
p < .05. **p < .01.

A low-level, negative and significant relationship (r = .247; p < .01) was found between mathematics teaching
anxiety and pre-service mathematics teachers’ computer literacy (see Table 7). In view of this, it can be stated that
pre-service mathematics teachers’ mathematics teaching anxiety decreased as their computer literacy increased. A
low-level, negative and significant relationship was found between pre-service teachers’ mathematics teaching
anxiety, all sub-dimensions of this anxiety and other dimensions excluding the programming sub-dimension of
computer literacy. The highest-level relationship was found between pre-service teachers’ general mathematics
teaching anxiety and the application software skills sub-dimension of computer literacy. This relationship is negative
and significant (r = .280; p < .01). No significant relationship was found between the pre-service mathematics
teachers’ programming sub-dimension of computer literacy and their general mathematics teaching anxiety (r = .010;

72
p > .05) and content knowledge (r = .006; p > .05), self-confidence (r = .048; p > .05), attitudes towards mathematics
teaching (r = .014; p > .05), and teaching knowledge (r = .023; p > .05) sub-dimensions. In this context, it was found
that the increase in the levels of the dimensions other than the programming sub-dimension of pre-service
mathematics teachers’ computer literacy reduced their general mathematics teaching anxiety.

Discussion and suggestions

This study examined the relationship between pre-service teachers’ perceptions regarding technology use in
mathematics instruction and their computer literacy levels as well as their mathematics teaching anxiety. First, the
mathematics teaching anxiety levels of pre-service teachers was analyzed and found to be low. Content knowledge,
self-confidence, attitude towards mathematics teaching and teaching knowledge sub-dimensions of mathematics
teaching anxiety levels of pre-service teachers were described. Accordingly, it was found that pre-service teachers
had low mathematics teaching anxiety levels in each sub-dimension. It was found that pre-service teachers who had
positive perceptions regarding technology use in mathematics teaching had lower mathematics teaching anxiety.
Peker and Halat (2009) emphasized that the teachers who prepared WebQuest and utilized the internet benefited from
a computer-based learning-teaching approach; as a result, they experienced lower mathematics teaching anxiety. In
this regard, the finding that the pre-service mathematics teachers who had positive perceptions regarding technology
use had lower teaching anxiety shows parallelism with the research of Peker and Halat (2009). Also, Taylor and
Galligan (2006) have found that using technology in mathematics classroom results in students displaying positive
attitude toward mathematics.

It was found that levels of teaching anxiety in terms of content knowledge, self-confidence, attitude towards
mathematics teaching and teaching knowledge could decrease among pre-service mathematics teachers who had
positive perceptions regarding technology use. For this reason, in order to reduce mathematics teaching anxiety and
increase technology awareness, necessary attention must be paid to the integration of technology into mathematics
teaching and learning in the courses that the pre-service teachers take throughout their university education. Apart
from this, it is considered that courses on how to use technology in mathematics teaching will positively contribute to
the pre-service teachers’ perceptions regarding technology, thereby reducing their mathematics teaching anxiety.

It was found that positive perceptions in the “requirement” and “advantages” sub-dimensions of technology use
reduced teaching anxiety, and teaching anxiety increased as the perception in the “disadvantages” sub-dimension
increased. It could be deduced from this fact that those teachers who think technology is necessary and advantageous
in teaching and learning have lower teaching anxiety whereas those who think technology is disadvantageous have
higher teaching anxiety. Therefore, future qualitative studies conducted with those teachers who think that
technology use is disadvantageous in mathematics teaching and learning should identify the reasons underlying this
condition. Information from these studies will provide more evidence for efforts to reduce teaching anxiety among
teachers.

This study also examined the relationship between pre-service teachers’ computer literacy levels and mathematics
teaching anxiety. It was found that mathematics teaching anxiety decreased as computer literacy levels increased.
Sun and Pyzdrowski (2009) asserted that anxiety decreases in an environment in which students can build their own
knowledge and learn mathematics cooperatively using computers, various software and websites with mathematical
content. Considering that mathematics anxiety and mathematics teaching anxiety are related (Peker & Ertekin, 2011),
the results obtained in the research that mathematics teaching anxiety could decrease as computer literacy levels
increase shows parallelism with the result of the study conducted Sun and Pyzdrowski (2009).

It was found that pre-service mathematics teachers’ teaching anxiety in terms of content knowledge, self-confidence,
attitude towards mathematics teaching and teaching knowledge decreased as their computer literacy levels increased.
Furthermore, it was found that pre-service teachers’ mathematics teaching anxiety could decrease as their computer
literacy in the sub-dimensions of basic skills, application software skills and computer awareness increases. In view
of these findings, there is an urgent need to develop pre-service teachers’ computer literacy in order to reduce their
mathematics teaching anxiety.

73
Considering that pre-service teachers’ mathematics teaching anxiety may decrease as their perception levels
regarding technology use in mathematics teaching positively increase and their computer literacy levels increase, it is
considered that prioritizing the applications in which technology is used in the teacher training process, and
supporting these applications with up-to-date software, will contribute significantly to decreasing teaching anxiety. In
the literature, there are various studies on teaching anxiety in English, Music and Psychology fields (Gardner &
Leak, 1994; Williams, 1991; Strong, 2013). For instance, training programs such as a consultant observation program
and peer mentoring activities in English are found to contribute to decreasing teaching anxiety (Williams, 1991).
Similarly, the importance of teacher training programs is also emphasized in psychology (Gardner & Leak, 1994).
Therefore, training programs employing latest technologies can play a critical role in reducing mathematics teaching
anxiety.

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