MATHEMATICS ANXIETY OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

The present investigation has been conducted to study the Mathematics Anxiety and its effect on a set of independent variables (gender,school board, fathers’ qualification, mothers’ qualification and with respect to their types of family). To achieve this aim the researcher has adopted survey method. The tool used for the data collection was Mathematics Anxiety Scale (MAS) developed by Dr. (Mrs.) Sadia Mahmood and Dr. (Mrs.) TahiraKhatoon.Tool was administered on 195 secondary school students drawn randomly from two schools of Patna. For the analysis of data, the investigator has used mean, standard deviation and‘t’ test. The results found that there is no significant difference in MathematicsAnxiety of students with respect to their gender, school board, fathers’ qualification and with respect to their types of family. Another major finding is that, students whose mothers’ qualification is above intermediate they are having high MathematicsAnxiety in comparison to those whose mothers’qualification The results also showed that the level of the is the highest among those who as a study on MathematicsAnxiety among the 9 th and 10 th Grade Secondary School Students of Tinsukia district in Assam. Results showed that students’ MathematicsAnxiety differ significantly according to gender, environment of the school and the Performance in Mathematics. Female students reported significantly higher MathematicsAnxiety than males. Students with higher Achievements in Mathematicsreported lower degrees of MathematicsAnxiety. However, results did not show any significant difference in students’ MathematicsAnxiety with respect to their grade level and school environment.

The present investigation has been conducted to study the Mathematics Anxiety and its effect on a set of independent variables (gender,school board, fathers' qualification, mothers' qualification and with respect to their types of family). To achieve this aim the researcher has adopted survey method. The tool used for the data collection was Mathematics Anxiety Scale (MAS) developed by Dr. (Mrs.) Sadia Mahmood and Dr. (Mrs.) TahiraKhatoon.Tool was administered on 195 secondary school students drawn randomly from two schools of Patna. For the analysis of data, the investigator has used mean, standard deviation and't' test. The results found that there is no significant difference in MathematicsAnxiety of students with respect to their gender, school board, fathers' qualification and with respect to their types of family. Another major finding is that, students whose mothers' qualification is above intermediate they are having high MathematicsAnxiety in comparison to those whose mothers'qualification is intermediate and below intermediate.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….... Introduction:-
MathematicsAnxiety is referred to as a sensation of nervousness and tension which interferes with the manipulation of numbers to solvemathematical sums in a different style than routine work and can cause learners to forget the solution of mathematical problems and have a lack of self-efficacy; and they feel insecure in such situations (Tobias, 1995).MathematicsAnxiety is an emotional, mental and physical act related to the mathematical thinking and problemsolving processes and resulting from uncomfortable past experiences related to Mathematics (Arem,2009).Smith (1997) characterized maths Anxiety in a number of ways, including: (a) uneasiness when asked to perform mathematically (b) avoidance of maths classes (c) feelings of physical illness, faintness, dread or panic (d) inability to perform on a test and (e) utilization of tutoring sessions that provide very little success.MathematicsAnxiety is not restricted to tests or classroom settings. It may generalise to various real-world situations with the consequence thatotherwise perfectly intelligent and capable persons develop a severe avoidance of situations involving any kind of Mathematics even extending to not choosing careers which include the application of Mathematics. It is very real and occurs among thousands of people.MathematicsAnxiety is an emotional, rather than intellectual problem. It interferes with a person's ability to learn Mathematics and therefore results in an intellectual problem.It has become a concern for our Indian society. Evidence of student's poor attitude and high levels of Anxiety towards Mathematics is abundant. In the midst of a technological era, declining Mathematics scores in 'Scholastic Aptitude Test' as well as poor Mathematics scores had been published in the third 'International Mathematics and Science Study'.

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Anxiety in Mathematics has raised several important questions for educational researchers. What factors promote Anxiety in students? How far do the different factors contribute towards Anxiety? Norwood (1994) emphasized that MathematicsAnxiety did not appear to have single cause, but was infact, the result of many different factors such as truancy, poor coping skills, teacher attitude and emphasis on learning math through drill without understanding. Another factor, which are widely routed as significant contributor for MathematicsAnxiety is student's gender, school board, parental education and types of family.
This study may bring forth the positive and negative aspect of MathematicsAnxiety.Findings from this study will help the teachers, administrators and parents to understand the current status of Mathematics education and find ways to decrease MathematicsAnxiety across all the grades.
Literature Review:-Acevedo et al. (2020)conducted a study on Relationship between Mathematical Anxiety and Academic Performance in Mathematics in High School Students. The study shows that the level of Anxiety is greater in girls than in boys and that there is an inverse correlation between Academic Performance in Mathematics and MathematicsAnxiety; as Anxiety increases, the Academic Performance decreases.

Amam et al. (2019) studied Math Anxiety Performance of the 8 th Grade Students of Junior High School. The results
showed that condition of Mathematical Anxiety level is in a low category. A low level of Students Anxiety is expected to improve the quality of student learning. The study also concluded that there is no difference in the Anxiety level of male and female students.

Srivastava (2019) conducted a study on MathematicsAnxiety among Secondary School Students in relation to
Gender Attitude Parental Education Mathematics Achievement and School. The study shows that female students have more Anxiety level than male students in Mathematics. It was found that the students having high achievement in Mathematics have less Anxiety levels than that of low achieving students. The study also revealed that students whose mother and father are not educated or less educated are more anxious than students whose mother are middle educated or high educated and the students of private school have lowest MathematicsAnxiety than the other Govt., Semi Govt., Muslim Minority. Kundu&Kar (2018) conducted a study on MathematicsAnxiety and its Relationship with the Achievement of Secondary School Students. The findings of the study revealed that boys and girls students have same MathematicsAnxiety. The study also concluded that rural students are more Math Anxious than urban students and the students who have high Anxiety exhibit low Achievement in Mathematics and vice versa.

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The results also showed that the level of the Anxiety is the highest among those who perceived themselves as low achievers.
Chowdhury (2014) conducted a study on MathematicsAnxiety among the 9 th and 10 th Grade Secondary School Students of Tinsukia district in Assam. Results showed that students' MathematicsAnxiety differ significantly according to gender, environment of the school and the Performance in Mathematics. Female students reported significantly higher MathematicsAnxiety than males. Students with higher Achievements in Mathematicsreported lower degrees of MathematicsAnxiety. However, results did not show any significant difference in students' MathematicsAnxiety with respect to their grade level and school environment.

Objectives of the Study:-
1. To find the significant difference in MathematicsAnxiety among secondary school students on the basis of gender. 2. To find the significant difference in MathematicsAnxiety among secondary school students on the basis of school board. 3. To find the significant difference in MathematicsAnxiety among secondary school students on the basis of their mothers' educational qualification. 4. To find the significant difference in mathematical Anxiety among secondary school students on the basis of their fathers' educational qualification. 5. To find the significant difference in MathematicsAnxiety among secondary school students on the basis of types of family.

Method Used:
The investigator has used survey method for the present study.

Population:
The population of the study comprise of all of private school students of Patna.

Sample:
The sample constitutes 195 students of Secondary School by using simple random sampling technique.

Delimitations:
The study is limited to 195 students of 9 th grade learners. The study is limited to Patna only.

Hypotheses of the Study:
There is no significant difference in MathematicsAnxiety among secondary school students on the basis of gender.
There is no significant difference in MathematicsAnxiety among secondary school students on the basis of school board.
There is no significant difference in MathematicsAnxiety among secondary school students on the basis of mothers' qualification.
There is no significant difference in MathematicsAnxiety among secondary school students on the basis of fathers' qualification.
There is no significant difference in MathematicsAnxiety among secondary school students on the basis of family.

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Ho 1: There is no significant difference in MathematicsAnxiety of secondary school students with respect to their gender. Ho 2: There is no significant difference in MathematicsAnxiety of secondary school students with respect to type of school board.

Interpretation:
It is inferred from the table no. 2 that the calculated value of 't' is 0.66 which is less than the table value of 't' (1.96) at 5% level of significance. Hence, the null hypothesis is accepted. It means there is no significant difference in MathematicsAnxiety of secondary school students with respect to their type of school board.
Ho 3: There is no significant difference in MathematicsAnxiety of secondary school students with respect to types of family. Ho 4: There is no significant difference in MathematicsAnxiety of secondary school students with respect to their mothers' qualification. Ho 5: There is no significant difference in MathematicsAnxiety of secondary school students with respect to their fathers' qualification.

Conclusion:-
This study points out that students whose mothers' qualification is above intermediate they are having high MathematicsAnxiety in comparison to those whose mothers'qualification is intermediate and below intermediate. Results show that there is no significant difference in MathematicsAnxiety of students with respect to their gender, school board, fathers' qualification and with respect to their types of family. .Mathematical Anxiety appears as classroom issue across the globe and during secondary school period it becomes more severe as adolescents find it difficult to cope up with already happening changes around them. This is an area which needs attention to find out its causes and also to suggest teachers and parents to help students in managing their Anxiety related to subject.