Research Symposium

BIO

My name is Emily Czerw. I am from Glen Gardner, NJ. I am a Psychology major with a minor in General Business. Next year I will be starting a master's program in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. My future goals are to work in mental health counseling and hopefully open up my own practice one day. I am very excited to continue my education in Clinical Psychology.

Examining Gender and Age Effects on Math Anxiety

Abstract

Math anxiety is a type of anxiety, such as a feeling of tension or apprehension, that happens when faced with mathematical tasks and is generally associated with lower math achievement. Previous research has explored the influence of gender on math performance and anxiety, with some studies reporting that females reported higher levels of math anxiety than males, which could potentially impact their achievement. Additionally, some research has suggested that math anxiety emerges early within development and can vary across different age groups. However, how gender and age interact in math anxiety is currently unknown. We are looking to find the relationship between gender, age, and math anxiety in relation to math achievement. For this project, we used data collected from an ongoing longitudinal national twin project, the National Project on Achievement in Twins, and ran analyses through the RStudio database to determine which variables had a significant effect on math anxiety in math achievement. We will also consider and discuss possible limitations as well as potential future research studies. Overall, the implications of this presentation highlights the importance of preventing and addressing math anxiety through targeted solutions, especially for those that may be vulnerable due to our findings. The findings of this study will be important because with this information, students can achieve their full potential in math achievement and schools can implement programs that focus on improving math performance and confidence.

Keywords: Gender, Age, Math Anxiety