Chapter 1 Intro

Have you ever noticed the reactions of students or even adults when you discuss mathematics? Invariably, you will get a negative reaction. Some will roll their eyes. Others will wag their head or let out a sigh. Where does this attitude come from? This study will explore the reasons why students dislike math. There have been several studies on math anxiety (Ma 2009, Suinn 1973, & HO 2000 eg.). These studies have attempted to describe the affect anxiety has on testing and achievement. But where does this dislike of mathematics come from? What is its source? Could it be that teachers affect their students? It could be that elementary teachers need more content area knowledge (Murphy 2006, Ambrose 2004) or maybe they believe early mathematics will be easy to teach (Ambrose 2004). Maybe some teachers don’t like mathematics themselves and that attitude passes to the students. Another reason may be that the student got behind one year and because of the sequential nature of mathematics was unable to catch up. Maybe, it has to do with the difficulty of a particular grade level. Maybe the students don’t understand why they will need mathematics. They don’t see the real world connections. This study will seek to determine what student attitudes are about mathematics and in particular, if they dislike math, is there a common reason.

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