Study: Most Colleges Students Fear Math

Study: Most Colleges Students Fear Math

Six out out of 10 university students present «mathematical anxiety» or fear of this subject, researchers in Spain found.

The study involved 885 first-year students at the University of Granada who took mathematics courses.

Patricia Perez-Tyteca, Enrique Castro, Isidoro Segovia, Encarnacion Castro, Francisco Fernandez and Francisco Cano said the students included four of the five university fields of study: Health Sciences, Experimental Sciences, Technical Education and Social Sciences.

The researchers applied to the students the Fennema-Sherman Mathematics Attitudes Scales, a questionnaire validated by experts from all over the world which has been used since the 70s.

Mathematical anxiety appears through a series of symptoms «such as tension, nervousness, concern, worry, edginess, impatience, confusion, fear and mental block» when dealing with the subject of mathematics, the researchers said.

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