Abstract

AGUERO CALVO, Evelyn; MEZA CASCANTE, Luis Gerardo; SUAREZ VALDES-AYALA, Zuleyka  and  SCHMIDT QUESADA, Sandra. Mathematical Anxiety in Secondary Education in Costa Rica. REDIE [online]. 2017, vol.19, n.1, pp.35-45. ISSN 1607-4041.  https://doi.org/10.24320/redie.2017.19.1.849.

This paper offers the results of an analysis of the level of mathematical anxiety, understood to mean a feeling of discomfort experienced when someone is required to take mathematics classes, as displayed in students of secondary education in Costa Rica. The study was performed with a sample of 3,725 students in public secondary education in Costa Rica in 2013. The results show statistically significant differences between the sexes in the level of mathematical anxiety, with female students experiencing moderately higher anxiety levels. Differences in anxiety levels are also determined by the student’s educational level, with significant differences found between third-cycle students (7th, 8th and 9th grades) and diversified education students (10th and 11th grades); the latter displayed moderately higher anxiety levels. Nonetheless, the study concludes that despite the differences observed, only 22.4% of students show high or very high levels of mathematical anxiety.

Keywords : Secondary education; mathematics; affectivity; anxiety.

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