Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37519365›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in psychology2023

Assessment of math anxiety as a potential tool to identify students at risk of poor acquisition of new math skills: longitudinal study of grade 9 Italian students.

Massimo Piccirilli, Gianni Alberto Lanfaloni, Livia Buratta, Beatrice Ciotti, Alessandro Lepri, Cristina Azzarelli, Silvia Ilicini, Patrizia D'Alessandro, Sandro Elisei

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Article in Frontiers in psychology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

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2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Massimo PiccirilliDepartment of Medicine, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy.
Gianni Alberto LanfaloniSerafico Institute, Assisi, Perugia, Italy.
Livia BurattaDepartment of Philosophy, Social Sciences and Education, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy.
Beatrice CiottiSerafico Institute, Assisi, Perugia, Italy.
Alessandro LepriSerafico Institute, Assisi, Perugia, Italy.
Cristina AzzarelliSerafico Institute, Assisi, Perugia, Italy.
Silvia IliciniSerafico Institute, Assisi, Perugia, Italy.
Patrizia D'AlessandroSerafico Institute, Assisi, Perugia, Italy.
Sandro EliseiSerafico Institute, Assisi, Perugia, Italy.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Introduction: Numerous international educational institutions have sounded the alarm about the gradual increase in the number of students failing to achieve a sufficient level of proficiency in mathematical abilities. Thus, the growing interest in identifying possible solutions and factors interfering with learning seems justified. In recent years, special attention has accrued to the possible role played by emotional factors. Methods: In the present investigation, students in the first grade of a technical vocational secondary school are followed to assess the influence of math anxiety (MA) on the development of skill acquisition in calculus. A math skills assessment test is administered on two occasions, at the beginning and end of the school year. Results: Results highlighted that the score on the anxiety scale, administered at the beginning of the year, negatively correlated with the score obtained on the mathematics test, administered at the end of the school year: the higher the level of anxiety, the worse the performance. Furthermore, the score obtained in the second administration makes it possible to divide the students tested into two groups: students who improved their performance and students who did not benefit at all from repeating the test. In these two groups, an analysis of the relationships between the outcome of the end-of-year mathematics test and the level of MA at the beginning of the year showed that MA correlates negatively with performance only in students who will fail to acquire new expertise in mathematics over the course of the school year. Discussion: The results suggest that MA may interfere with the smooth development of math skills. Assessing the level of MA at the beginning of the school year could prove to be a useful tool in identifying which and how many students are at risk of failing to achieve the skills expected from the usual course of instruction. A consideration of anxiety as one of the variables at play in the genesis of learning difficulties may prompt educators to modify teaching methodology and strategies by increasing focus on the impact of the emotional dimension on learning.

Indexed as

adolescenceAMASeducational psychologymath achievementmath anxietymathematics performancesecondary school students

Identifiers

PMID37519365
PMCPMC10376798

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.