CAREER: Getting to the bottom of mathematics anxiety: A longitudinal investigation into its developmental operating mechanisms

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This project will examine the role that mathematics anxiety plays in impeding the development of mathematical competency. Mathematics anxiety describes the feeling of fear and apprehension experienced prior to or during math related activities. It is a highly prevalent emotion in the student population. Highly math anxious students, compared to their low math anxiety counterparts, exhibit lower math achievement and less interest in math-related career paths. To understand more precisely why and how mathematics anxiety may hinder the development of mathematics ability, this project will (1) investigate the real-time impacts of mathematics anxiety on math problem solving; (2) examine the long-term impacts of mathematics anxiety on engagement in math learning in and out of school; and (3) explore possible individual characteristics that may mitigate the negative implications of mathematics anxiety on math learning outcomes. The project is supported by a CAREER award to Texas Tech University by the EHR Core Research (ECR) program, which supports work that advances the fundamental research literature on STEM learning.The overarching goal of this project is to further our scientific understanding of the mechanisms underlying the negative association between mathematics anxiety and mathematics achievement. Ultimately, this knowledge will provide opportunities to improve the quality of emotional experiences and knowledge acquisition in math education. This project will integrate methodological approaches from cognitive-affective sciences, educational sciences, psychophysiology, and developmental psychology into a 3-year longitudinal design, following students from upper elementary school into middle school. First, this project will test the hypothesis that mathematics anxiety impairs math performance by undermining goal-driven attention needed for successful math problem solving. The researchers will examine continuous attention distribution patterns (measured by eye movement) during math problem solving in students with varying levels of mathematics anxiety. Second, the researchers will examine the longitudinal relation between mathematics anxiety and mathematics attainment, with the hypothesis that avoidance and disengagement in math learning mediate this developmental relation in multiple contexts, in class, at home, and in out of school math activities. Third, researchers will incorporate electrocardiography, impedance cardiography, and questionnaire measures to explore state and trait emotion regulation and effort mobilization as possible mechanisms in uncoupling undesired math learning outcomes from mathematics anxiety. Through finding dissemination as well as education and outreach programs, this project will offer the opportunity to promote public understanding of mathematics learning in particular, and to educate parents and teachers to become better consumers of the science of learning in general.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.