Tracing Students Practicing With a Math Learning Program: Does It Mediate the Anxiety-Performance Link?

• In Event: Affect and Motivation in Mathematics Education

Abstract

Math anxiety is suggested to negatively affect students’ performance because math anxious students avoid practicing math. This study investigated the assumed relationship in a longitudinal design with N=880 secondary school students. During the use of an adaptive arithmetic learning program, we traced their practice behavior (practiced tasks) over 45 weeks to objectively assess avoidance behavior. Mediation analyses revealed that math anxious students practice equally with the learning program. Further, the more students practiced with the program, the greater their performance improvement. Hence, avoiding to practice does not explain the weaker performance of math anxious students, which suggested that math anxious students do not seem to be at risk of missing out on the opportunities provided by adaptive arithmetic learning programs.

Authors

• Anna Hilz, Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education

• Abe Hofman, University of Amsterdam

• Brenda Jansen, University of Amsterdam

• Karen Aldrup, Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education