Self-Reports Better Indicate Math Anxiety in Elementary School Students Than Facial Expression Software

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  In Poster Session: Affective Influences on Learner Success

Abstract

This paper outlines the effectiveness of measuring math-anxiety in elementary students using real-time facial expression software (emotient) and self-reported Math anxiety (Litchenfeld et al.; AEQ-ES). Students aged 11-14 were given 5 standardized math questions taken from the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) standardized assessment and asked to rate the difficultly of each question. Results indicated that students with high self-reported math anxiety had lower scores on the math test but did not express more negative emotions. Additionally, students who reported experiencing high math anxiety rated math questions as more difficult and received lower math test scores, whereas to students who reported high math enjoyment rated math questions as less difficult and received higher math test scores.

Authors

• Ana Zdravkovic, University of Toronto

• Stephanie Buono, University of Toronto

• Earl Woodruff, OISE/University of Toronto