High maths-anxiety in student nurses Identifying maths-anxiety and tackling the causes.

1. High maths-anxiety in student nurses Identifying maths-anxiety and tackling the causes. Heather Bull Lecturer (Biology and Maths) School of Nursing University of Nottingham E-mail contact: heather.bull@nottingham.ac.uk

2. Maths anxiety • ‘…feelings of tension and anxiety that interfere with the manipulation of numbers and the solving of mathematical problems in a wide variety of ordinary life and academic situations.’ (Richardson and Suinn, 1972). i.e. maths-anxiety as a cause of error despite the level of maths ability.

3. What happens in maths anxiety?- some explanations in the literature • Maths anxiety overloads the working memory with interfering thoughts which affect performance. • This is especially apparent in sequential procedures such as carryover or counting-like operations. (Ashcraft, 2001) • EEG investigations showed differences in the: • frontal area of the brain in response to carry operations • parietal area during general calculation activity (Sheffield, D, 2006)

4. Poor maths performance What the literature says: Maths (test) anxiety Maths self-efficacy Alexander L, Martray C (1989) Ashcraft MH, Kirk EP (2001) Hodge J.E. (2002)

5. Maths Anxiety Rating Scales (MARS):developed for research and therapy. 98-item. Richardson and Suinn (1972). ‘adding two three-digit numbers while someone looks over your shoulder. ‘ an upcoming math test 1 hour before.’* 25-item* Alexandra and Martray (1989) 9-item*. Hopko et al (2003) Many more…

6. How does this transfer into everyday nursing? • Diagnostic tool (2nd person)? • However...key terms in nurse training / practice are: • reflective practice • accountability • professional responsibility • SWOT analysis • action plans • awareness (self and professional) • self-managed learning

7. In training (3 years) Post-registration practice Tutor monitors with MARS. (2nd person) Reflect on maths-related anxiety as part of daily practice. (1st person)* Department updates: include MARS (2nd person) Maths anxiety evaluation in nursing - some possibilities * ‘How anxious do I feel about performing this maths task?’

8. Would a ‘single-item’, reflective evaluation of maths anxiety: • be a useful evaluation to increase awareness? • show similar association patterns to MARS? • glean information underlying maths anxiety? • help focus remedial action? • be worth including in diagnostic numeracy testing? • have value in promoting ‘safe practice’ ?

9. Stage 1 (at 4 weeks). Questionnaire 1: Anxiety Belief in maths skills Reliance on calculator Command of tables Level 2 maths (Y/N) Open comments Test 1. 20-item Stage 2 (at 10 weeks). Questionnaire 2: Anxiety Belief in maths skills Test 1. 20-item 6 week gap A Preliminary Study:

10. Key questionnaire items: • Maths (test) anxiety rating (1-5): • ‘How anxious would you feel about needing to achieve 14/20 in a maths test today?’ • Maths self-efficacy (belief in having maths skills) rating (1-5): • ‘How do you rate your basic maths skills?’ • Embedded numeracy skills: • (a) Calculator-reliance rating (1-5): ‘To what extent do you need a calculator to perform basic maths calculations correctly?’ • (b) Command of multiplication tables (1-11) ‘How many multiplication tables can you recall?’ • Highest level of previous achievement in maths. Below level 2 - Level 2 and above

11. 1. Frequencies of maths anxiety ratings (%). Low anxiety (1&2) High anxiety (4&5) 2. Mann-Whitney 3. Spearman’s (p) L vs H anxiety (p) with anxiety Self-efficacy (<.05) (<.05) Test score (<.05)(<.05) Calculator Rel. (<.05) (<.05) Tables Comm. (<.05)(.>.05) Results Stage 1 (2-tailed, alpha = .05 where applicable)

12. 1. Frequencies of maths self-efficacy ratings (%). Low self-efficacy (1&2) High self-efficacy(4&5) 2. Mann-Whitney 3. Spearman’s (p) L vs H self-efficacy (p) with self-efficacy Test score (<.05)(<.05) Calculator Rel (<.05)(<.05) Tables Comm. (<.05)(<.05) Results (2-tailed, alpha = .05 where applicable)

13. Results stage 1 (2-tailed, alpha = .05 where applicable) 1. Frequencies of calculator-reliance ratings (%). Low reliance (1&2) High reliance (4&5) 2. Mann-Whitney 3. Spearman’s 4. Spearman’s (p) LvsH calc. rel. (p) vs calc.rel. (p) vs score Test score (<.05)(<.05)- Tables Comm. (<.05)(<.05)(<.05)

14. Results Stage 1 (2-tailed, alpha = .05 where applicable) 1. Frequency with and without a level 2 maths qualification (%) Without level 2 = 1 With level 2 = 2 2. Mann-Whitney (Below L2 maths vs L2and above) (p) Anxiety (>.05) Self-efficacy (<.05) Test score (>.05) Calculator Rel (>.05) Tables Comm (>.05)

15. Comparison of stage 1 and stage 2 variables (Wilcoxon) Maths self-efficacy p > .05 Maths (test) anxiety p < .05 [Stage 1 > 2] Test score p < .05 [Stage 1 < 2] Results Stage 1 and 2(2-tailed, alpha = .05 where applicable)

16. Building-up a picture. inverse direct Focused practice Calculator-reliance Tables command Maths (test) anxiety Test performance Previous achievement Maths self-efficacy

17. Open comments from stage 1 After test 1: ‘I feel very, very, very deflated and extremely disappointed.’ ‘I felt fine before I started, now I feel pretty poor about myself.’ Reasons for declining test 1: ‘Just can’t bare the thought of the pressure.’ ‘I feel sick and trembly.’ ‘Facing my worst fear which most of the time I try to avoid.’ ‘I feel I can’t put my self through it.’ ‘Please help!’

18. Frequencies of anxiety rating for nursing students achieving high (>70%)intermediate (40-69%) and low (<40%) scores in test 2. Possible scenario: Able to over-ride anxiety (totally or partially)? Able to over-ride some anxiety? Anxiety interfering with cognition?

19. Summary of results: • Students with high maths (test) anxiety and/or low maths self-efficacy tended to have: • Higher reliance on a calculator for basic maths • Poorer command of multiplication tables • Lower test score • Students with low maths self-efficacy also tended to have: • Lower previous achievement in maths • So, what were they really saying when they said: • ‘I’m really worried about the maths’ or • ‘I’m useless at maths!’ • A period of focused study tended to: • Decrease student anxiety • Increase student test scores • Not affect self-efficacy

20. A one-item reflective evaluation of maths (test) anxiety: • gave a useful evaluation of anxiety to increase (self) awareness. • showed similar association patterns to MARS • gleaned information associated with maths anxiety • helped focus remedial action • Unanswered questions: • Value of including it in diagnostic numeracy testing? • Value for promoting ‘safe practice’ ? • Value for promoting awareness as a first stage in overcoming maths-related anxiety.

21. References: • Alexander L, Martray C (1989). The development of an abbreviated version of the mathematics anxiety rating scale. Measurement and evaluation in counselling and development. 22:143-150. • Ashcraft MH and Kirk EP (2001). The relationships among working memory, maths anxiety, and performance. Journal of experimental psychology: general. 130(2):224-237. • Hodge JE. (2002). The effect of math anxiety, math self-efficacy and computer-assisted instruction on the ability of undergraduate nursing students to calculate drug dosages. Dissertation: Doctor of Education, West Virginia University. • Hopko DR, Mahadevan R, Bare RL, Hunt MK. (2003). The abbreviated maths anxiety scale (AMAS): Construction, validity and reliability. Assessment. 10(2):178-182. • Richardshon FC and Suinn RM (1972). The mathematics anxiety rating scale: psychometric data. Journal of Counselling Psychology. 19(6):551-554. • Sheffield D. (2006). Presented at ‘Supporting maths difficulties in health sciences and practice How does anxiety influence maths performance and what can we do about it? ’, HEA/University of Nottingham Joint workshop. June.