Mathematics anxiety, prior experience and confidence to teach mathematics among pre‐service education students

Abstract

Poor performance in mathematics among students, at a variety of grade levels, has been attributed, in part, to mathematics anxiety (Bulmahn & Young, 1982; Kelly & Tomhave, 1985; Hadfield & McNeil, 1994). Some investigators have related this phenomenon to gender effects (Cooper & Robinson, 1989) mathematics self‐concept and test anxiety (Bandalos et al., 1995), or poor test performance (Dew et al., 1984; Hembree, 1990). Others, most notably Fiore (1999) have attributed mathematics anxiety to what is referred to as math abuse or ‘any negative experience related to an individual’s doing mathematics’ (p. 403), particularly at the hands of adults such as parents and teachers. Limited research, however, was located that examined the relationship between pre‐service teacher education students’ experiences with formal mathematics instruction, and their future professional practice. Specifically, more needs to be known concerning the manner in which past experiences at school may have influenced both attitudes towards the subject as well as confidence in teaching it.