MATHEMATICS SELF-EFFICACY AND ANXIETY AND

ITS SIGNIFICANCE TO THE ACADEMIC

PERFORMANCE OF THE STUDENTS
ACADEMIC YEAR 2018-2019

Balitaan, Margarita

Cornelia, Kae Allyzarie

Legaspi, John Mhar

Montecillo, Lara Joy

Quiatchon, Jonnah Mae

FEBRUARY 2019
 CHAPTER I
THE PROBLEM
Introduction

In an effort to improve students cognitive and affective outcomes in mathematics and/or

school learning, educational psychologists and mathematics educators have continued to search

for variables (personal and environmental) that could be manipulated in favor of academic gains

especially in the subject mathematics due to student’s disposition, low enrollment and poor

performance in the subject (Chief Examiner Report). Of all the personal variables that have

attracted researcher in this area of educational achievement, mathematics self -efficacy seem to

be gaining more popularity. Learning involves both a personally and a social negotiated

construction of meaning. In the classroom context this mean that children develop cognitive by

being agents in their own learning. The view of agency to be advanced here is based upon three

central premises; (a) that children construct scientific concepts by drawing on their existing ideas

and experience, (b) that social interactions both direct and indirect mediate knowledge

construction, (c) that knowledge is personally constructed by the learner based upon prior ideas

and social interactions.

Mathematics self-efficacy is commonly defined as individuals’ beliefs or perceptions

regarding their abilities in mathematics. Bandura (1997) suggested that students with higher

levels of self-efficacy tend to be more motivated to learn and more likely to persist when

presented with challenging tasks. Bandura identified four main sources of self-efficacy: mastery

experiences, vicarious experiences, social persuasion, and physiological states. Students base

most of their beliefs about their abilities on their mastery experiences. For example, students who

have repeatedly succeeded in previous mathematics courses will most likely believe that they
have the ability to succeed in future mathematics courses. Vicarious experiences involved

students observing social models similar to themselves succeeding with particular tasks.

Although this does not contribute as strongly to self-efficacy as mastery experiences, students

will feel more confident in mathematics if they see students they perceive as similar to

themselves succeeding in mathematics. The final two sources contribute the least to students’

self-efficacy. Social persuasion refers to encouragement, both positive and negative, from peers,

teachers, and parents. Physiological states refer to the student’s physical state such as fatigue,

pain, or nausea.

Poor mathematics self-efficacy in college students often decreases their motivation to

learn and eventually can learn to low mathematics achievement. In a study college freshman

enrolled in a developmental mathematics course, Higbee and Thomas found that mathematics

self-efficacy, along with other affective factors such as test anxiety and perceived usefulness of

mathematics, influenced students’ mathematical performances. The results of their study suggest

to instructors that focusing on teaching mathematical content is insufficient for some students to

learn mathematics. College mathematics instructors must also consider emotional or attitudinal

factors that influence how students learn mathematics.

Mark H. Ashcraft defines math anxiety as "a feeling of tension, apprehension, or fear that

interferes with math performance" (2002). The academic study of math anxiety originates as

early as the 1950s, where Mary Fides Gough introduced the term mathemaphobia to describe the

phobia-like feelings of many towards mathematics. The first math anxiety measurement scale

was developed by Richardson and Suinn in 1972.  Since this development, several researchers

have examined math anxiety in empirical studies Hembree (1990) conducted a meta-analysis of

151 studies concerning math anxiety. It determined that math anxiety is related to poor math
performance on math achievement tests and that math anxiety is related to negative attitudes

concerning math. Hembree also suggests that math anxiety is directly connected with math

avoidance.

Ashcraft (2002) suggests that highly anxious math students will avoid situations in which

they have to perform mathematical calculations. Unfortunately, math avoidance results in less

competency, exposure and math practice, leaving students more anxious and mathematically

unprepared to achieve. In college and university, anxious math students take fewer math courses

and tend to feel negative towards math. In fact, Ashcraft found that the correlation between math

anxiety and variables such as confidence and motivation are strongly negative.

According to Schar, because math anxiety can cause math avoidance,

an empirical dilemma arises. For instance, when a highly math-anxious student performs

disappointingly on a math question, it could be due to math anxiety, or the lack of competency in

math because of math avoidance. Ashcraft determined that by administering a test that becomes

increasingly more mathematically challenging, he noticed that even highly math-anxious

individuals do well on the first portion of the test measuring performance. However, on the latter

and more difficult portion of the test, there was a stronger negative relationship between

accuracy and math anxiety.

According to the research found at the University of Chicago by Sian Beilock and her

group, math anxiety is not simply about being bad at math. After using brain scans, scholars

confirmed that the anticipation or the thought of solving math actually causes math anxiety. The

brain scans showed that the area of the brain that is triggered when someone has math anxiety

overlaps the same area of the brain where bodily harm is registered. [5] And Trezise and

Reeve show that students' math anxiety can fluctuate throughout the duration of a math class.
 The impact of mathematics anxiety on mathematics performance has been studied in

much recent literature. An individual with math anxiety does not necessarily lack ability in

mathematics, rather, they cannot perform to their full potential due to the interfering symptoms

of their anxiety. Math anxiety manifests itself in a variety of ways, including physical,

psychological, and behavioral symptoms, that can all disrupt a student's mathematical

performance. The strong negative correlation between high math anxiety and low achievement is

often thought to be due to the impact of math anxiety on working memory. Working memory has

a limited capacity, and when solving mathematical problems, a large portion of this capacity is

dedicated to problem solving. However, in individuals with math anxiety, much of this space is

taken up by anxious thoughts, thus compromising the individual's ability to perform. In addition,

a frequent reliance in schools on high-stakes and timed testing, where students tend to feel the

most anxiety, can lead to lower achievement for math anxious individuals. PISA results

demonstrate that students experiencing high math anxiety demonstrate mathematics scores that

are 34 points lower than students who do not have math anxiety, equivalent to one full year of

school. These findings demonstrate the clear link between math anxiety and reduced levels of

achievement, suggesting that alleviating math anxiety may lead to a marked improvement in

student achievement.

Statement of the problem

This study entitled “Mathematics, self-efficacy and anxiety and its significance to the

academic performance of the student in the academic 2018-2019” aims to seek answer on the

following questions.
1. How mathematics efficacy and anxiety affect the academic performance of students?

2. Is there any significant effect of having mathematics efficacy and anxiety in terms of

academic performances of students?

3. How do mathematics anxiety and mathematics self-efficacy impact the strategies

teachers use in their mathematics instruction?

4. What are the perception of students in terms of mathematics self efficacy and anxiety

in academic performances of students?

HYPOTHESES

There is a significant difference between math self efficacy and anxiety in

academic performances of students in Nova Schola.

There is no significant effects between math self efficacy and anxiety in academic

performance of students.

There is a significance impact between self efficacy and anxiety in academic

performance of students.

There is a significant difference between the perception of students in

mathematics self efficacy and anxiety in academic performance of students.

Significance of the study

This study is important to those who are interested in knowing the effect of Mathematics

self-efficacy and anxiety to the academic performance of the student in the academic year 2018-

2019.

Students. This study will benefits the student because they will be knowledgeable about

what the effects and how this problem affect their academic performance.

Teachers. This study will also benefits the teachers for the reason that they will be aware

about the effect and how does mathematics self-efficacy and anxiety affect the academic

performance of their students.

Parents. The parents will also benefited in this study for the reason that they will be

informed if their children is really affected by the mathematics self-efficacy and anxiety.

Future Researchers. And lastly this study will benefits the future researchers because

they can gather more information about the Mathematics, self-efficacy and anxiety and its

significance to the academic performance of the student especially if they wish to conduct

similar topic/idea and soon help find the solution to this emerging problem.

Scope and Delimitation

This study focus on the Senior High School students at Nova Schola Tanauan by NTC

Batangas. It determined the profile of the respondents as well as their personal variable included

their age and sex.

 This research will be conducted at Nova Schola Tanauan by NTC Batangas. The

respondents of the questionnaire are fifty students from Senior High School for the reason that

they are prone to this kind of problem.

Definition of Terms

In the light of giving direction to the present study unfamiliar terms were encountered. As

part of the research, the researchers defined these terms according to their conceptual use and

contextual application in the research.

Anxiety. Is an emotion characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil, often accompanied

by nervous behavior such as packing back and forth, somatic complaints and rumination.

Mathematics. Is essential in many fields, including natural science, engineering, medicine,

finance, and the social science.

Mathematics Anxiety. A tense feeling that interferes with the manipulation and understanding

of how to work with numbers causing a negative attitude toward mathematics, avoidance of

mathematical thinking, limited career choice, lack of self-confidence, and fear of the content.

Self-efficacy. Is an individual’s belief in their innate ability to achieve goals.

 CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

This chapter presents the review of related literature and studies which are essential in

this study. It also consists the similarities and differences of the present study and studies that

were reviewed by the researchers.

Foreign Literature

In a study examining efficacy development, Utley, Moseley, & Bryant, (2007) included

measures of both achievement and efficacy. In particular, 51 pre-service teachers completed the

Mathematics Teaching Efficacy Beliefs Scale (MTEBS) and Science Teaching Efficacy Beliefs

Scale (STEBS) at the beginning and ending of their methods courses, and at the end of their

student teaching. The researchers found that the pre-service teachers increased their beliefs about

their ability to teach effectively by the end of their methods courses, but a slight decrease in their

beliefs occurred during student teaching (Utley, Moseley, & Bryant, 2007).

According to Kuhs and Ball (2012), there are four distinct approaches to mathematics

teaching that are associated with beliefs. A learner-focused approach indicates a belief that

mathematics is a dynamic discipline that utilizes problems solving extensively. The beliefs that

mathematics is the practice of mathematicians and that mathematics should make sense is

reflected in a content-focused approach that emphasizes understanding. A third approach,

content-focused emphasizing performance, is indicative of a belief that mathematics is composed

of a set of rules to be memorized and mastered. Finally, a classroom-focused approach reflect a

belief that mathematics is whatever is specified in the curriculum.

 According to Bandura (2010), beliefs influenced the amount of effort an individual

invests in a task and the motivation to persist in times of difficulty. These self-efficacy beliefs

impact a number of behavior that include academic achievement, career choice, athletic

performance, job performance, and recovery from an illness. Bandura established that self-

efficacy indicated an individual’s future oriented beliefs about the level of competence he or she

can have in any given situation.

In 2007, Swars, Hart, Smith, & Tolar reported that instruction in mathematical pedagogy

improved pre-service teachers’ teaching efficacy beliefs. The longitudinal study investigated the

mathematics efficacy and mathematical instructional knowledge of elementary pre-service

teachers who took part in a developmental teacher preparation program that included two

courses in mathematics methods. Result showed participants’ mathematical pedagogical and

teaching efficacy beliefs were low at the beginning of the program. The participants significantly

increased their personal efficacy beliefs for teaching mathematics as they completed the two

courses of mathematics teaching methodology.

Flores, Patterson, Shippen, Hinton, & Franklin (2010) noted a positive relationship

between efficacy beliefs and the teachers’ ability to solve mathematical word problems among

both pre-service and practicing special education teachers. The researchers found that

participants who had higher beliefs of efficacy scores in teaching mathematics also showed

higher scores in mathematics problem solving.

Local Literature

Benbow, Camilla P.(2008) had conducted “A study on Academic achievement in

mathematics and science of students between ages 13 and 23”. There are differences among

students in the top one percent of mathematical ability. Among students in the top 1% of ability,

those with SAT-M scores in the top quarter, in comparison with those in the bottom quarter,

achieved at much higher levels through high school, college, and graduate school. Of the 37

variables studied, 34 showed significant differences favoring the high SAT-M group which were

substantial. Some gender differences emerged; these tended to be smaller than the ability group

differences; they were not observed in the relationship between mathematical ability and

academic achievement. The predictive validity of the SAT-M for high-ability 7th and 8th graders

was supported.

Saileela k,(2012), had conducted “a self-regulation, self-efficacy and attitude towards

mathematics of higher secondary students in relation to achievement”. The purpose of the study

was to compare self-regulation scale, self-efficacy scale and attitude towards mathematics scale

in relation to achievement test in mathematics .investigator administered to a random sample of

1000 first year higher secondary students. the result of the study reveals that there is achievement

in mathematics of boys is significantly greater than girls and there is exists positive and

significant correlation between achievement and self-efficacy.

Lawrence Praveen (2007) had conducted “a study on relationship between anxiety and

academic achievement of BS math students”. The objectives of this study were to find out the

level of anxiety of BS mathematics students; to find out the level of academic achievement of BS

mathematics students; to find out the relationship between anxiety and academic achievement of

BS mathematics. The findings of the study were the level of anxiety of BS mathematics II years
students is average; the level of anxiety of BS mathematics III years students is average; there

are significant association between BS mathematics students of women’s college and co-

education college in their academic achievement; there are significant relationship between

anxiety and academic achievement of BS mathematics students with regard to sex; there are

significant relationship between anxiety and academic achievement of B.Sc mathematics

students with regard to locality of college.

Roty and Michael (2008) had conducted “a study on the relationship between

mathematics anxiety and emotional intelligence”. This study examined the relationship between

mathematics anxiety and emotional intelligence. The results suggest that students would benefit

from having access to emotional intelligence coaching. Experiments of the effect of emotional

intelligence coaching on mathematics anxiety should be conducted furthermore; studies are

needed to examine the relationship between mathematics anxiety and emotional intelligence in

populations not represented in this study.

 CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter covers the nature of research design, respondents of the study and

instrument necessary for the collection of data. It also describes the statistical treatment of data

that will help the researchers to come up with the definite result.

Research Design

The present study made use of Descriptive Correlational method in the research.

Educational Psychology (2011) define and contrast descriptive correlational and experiment

studies giving examples of how each of these have been used to collect data in educational

psychology define the four basic method ( systematic observation, participant observation,

paper/pencil and clinical ) giving example of how each has been used in the study of important

variables in educational psychology.

The researchers believed that the descriptive correlational method is the most employable

method in the present study. Through this method, findings of the study would benefits the

educational institution as well as the people involved in the research.

The Respondents of the study

 The respondents of this study was focused on the Grade 11 HUMSS students from NTC

Nova Schola because they are the one who are prone to these kind of problem. The researchers

use availability sampling. Through the use of this sampling the researchers can conduct more

relevant information because of the certain track specialize in human behavior, hence making

them observant and aware of their surroundings. The researchers will distribute some

questionnaire for some selected Grade 11 students as their respondents.

Availability Sampling,

SECTION PERCENTAGE NO. OF STUDENTS

11 HUMSS B 10% 10

11 HUMSS C 10% 10

12 HUMSS B 10% 10

12 HUMSS C 10% 10

11 TVL ICT 10% 10

12 TVL TOURISM 10% 10

11 STEM C 10% 10

12 STEM C 10% 10

12 ABM B 10% 10

11 ABM B 10% 10

Research Instrument
 The researchers use questionnaire as their research instrument for they to know that is the

easy way they will be able to find out the information they needed for this study. This study is

made through the use of a descriptive or structured questionnaire which was modified to suit the

existing condition in the research. The said questionnaire was consisted of question regarding the

topic.

LIKERT SCALE

Strongly Agree 4

Agree 3

Strongly Disagree 2

Disagree 1

Data Gathering Procedure

The researchers have thought of topics that were related to the issues in the school

community. When the topic was chosen, a title was then crafted and from that an overview of the

research topic was discussed. Questions which served as their guide in the conduct of this

research topic were then listed. Afterwards, review on the related studies and literature was then

done as well as different methods were brainstormed which become helpful as they come up

with the instrument to be used in the gathering pertinent information from the chosen

respondents. When they have formulated their questionnaire, they started distributing them to

their respondents. When the instrument were already collected, they started interpreting and

analyzing the data and form their analysis.

Statistical Treatment of Data

To satisfy the requirements of the research, the researchers made use of an appropriate

statistical treatment. Frequency and percentage, rank and mean were used. These were utilized in

the analysis and tabulation of data.

Frequency and percentage. It was used in determining respondents profile. It was also

used in determining the respondents level of satisfaction.

Mean. This was employed to determine the average scores of the respondents from the

administered questionnaire.

Rank. This was used to arrange the items according to the highest percentage down to

the lowest.

Statistical Treatment of Data

1.) The Weighted Mean was used to know the correlation between student-centered

learning approach and academic performance of the selected senior high school

students of Nova Schola. It is an average that into account of the proportional

relevance of each components, rather than treating each component equally. The

interpretation was based on Scaling which was shown below. This was based for four

(4) categories:

Score Limits Interpretation

3.50-4.00 Strongly Agree

2.50-3.40 Agree
 1.50-2.40 Disagree

1.00-1.40 Strongly Disagree

2.) The Pearson r was used to know the correlation between student-centered learning

approach and academic performance of selected senior high school students of Nova

Schola. The measuring device and formula was applied to determine the value of r

and its strength. The formula used for this method is followed by solving the p value

to determine which hypothesis will be accepted or rejected.

n(∑ XY )−(∑ X )(∑ Y )

r=
√ [ n ∑ X −( ∑Y ) ] [n ∑ Y ¿−(∑ Y ) ]¿
2 2 2 2

Pearson r Qualitative Description

±1 Perfect

±0.75 to < ±1 Very High

±0.50 to < ±0.75 Moderately High

±0.25 to < ±0.50 Moderately Low

>0 to < ±0.25 Very Low

0 No Correlation
THEORETRICAL FRAMEWORK

This chapter describes the development of academic self-efficacy. This chapter focuses

on the development of one type of motivational process: perceived self-efficacy. Self-efficacy

refers to beliefs about one's capabilities to learn or perform behaviors at designated levels. It

provides theoretical background information on self-efficacy to show its relation to other similar

motivation constructs. According to this chapter, self-efficacy has been shown to play an

important role in achievement contexts, and much research supports the idea that it can influence

the instigation, direction, persistence, and outcomes of achievement-related actions. In this

chapter it traced the purpose of self-efficacy changes with development and has elucidated

variables that affect this change. It also suggests profitable areas of future research. This chapter

encourages by the rapid increase in self-efficacy research. This chapter concludes that the future

should provide greater clarification of the operation of self-efficacy in different domains and

highlight ways that self-efficacy can be enhanced in learners across developmental levels.

MATH ANXIETY

In this discussion section, I provide a commentary on the five preceding chapters in this

volume. I discuss what is, from my own perspective, the state of the art of our understanding of

the development of numerical understanding and mathematical disabilities. I raise a number of

questions regarding the evidence and theories that are being presented in this volume and

discuss future directions. By doing so, I highlight what are, in my view, pressing outstanding

issues and pathways to progress in both our understanding of the development of numerical

and mathematical abilities and the interaction between research and educational practice.