Investigating the effect of problem solving strategies on reducing math anxiety among sixth grade female students in Qazvin city

Dissertation for obtaining a master's degree in elementary education

Abstract:

The present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the effect of teaching problem solving strategies on reducing math anxiety among female students of the sixth grade of primary school in Qazvin city. And the sample group consists of 60 students who were randomly selected from a stratified cluster of the desired statistical population. These people randomly divided into two experimental and control groups, alternative and experimental groups received trainings related to George Polia's problem solving method during eight sessions. Mathematical Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC) was used to collect data. The analysis of the data, which was done using the covariance analysis method, showed that the greatest effect in reducing the anxiety subscale of math assessment and the least effect in reducing the anxiety subscale of the math teacher. Also, the findings of the research showed that the effect of problem solving skills in reducing the subscale of math learning anxiety was rejected in this research.

Key words: math anxiety, problem solving, problem solving strategies, exam anxiety, math teaching skills

Introduction

Rapid advances in science and industry and its impact on various aspects of human life make the need to be familiar with the basics of mathematics even for people who are employed in the simplest jobs more and more obvious day by day (Skohi, 1362)

In general, the importance and basic role of mathematics in the history of thought by science and even the course of industrial and technical developments is undeniable. In fact, mathematics is one of the very basic individual skills in the continuity of daily life in modern societies (Jordan and Ekgio[1], 2010).

However, one of the factors that can hinder the process of studying mathematics and the positive factors associated with it is math anxiety. Many consider mathematics a difficult subject. For many, it is associated with a strong feeling of failure, and their memory of school mathematics is the memory of tests and exams, frustration and fear of "getting the answer wrong" (Howson and Wilson, Maliki translation, 1368).

Mathematics anxiety appears as a state of discomfort when the student wants to do his math homework. The main features of this discomfort include: dislike, worry and fear, with specific behavioral manifestations such as tension, frustration, distress, helplessness and mental disorder when dealing with mathematical tasks. In addition, the feeling of anxiety can lead to panic, tension, helplessness, anxiety, embarrassment, inability to cope, sweaty palms, nervous stomach, difficulty in breathing and loss of concentration (Aghajani et al., 2013). This problem is more prominent and serious especially in mathematics (Amari, 2013). Therefore, one should think of a plan to make maximum use of the benefits and importance of this course and make the path to success smoother. The model of problem solving strategies is a method that will be used according to the experiments and research done in this field.

The study of human performance in problem solving is not a new issue, the first experimental researches in this regard are at least 90 years ago. However, the study of problem solving in special areas such as mathematical problems, solving physics problems and so on. It is a more recent research tradition (Amari, 2013).

Especially in the last decade, the purpose of teaching mathematics in the elementary school has changed in general. The four main actions are no longer emphasized because calculators do this (Bromzer, Agatha, Kambobach, Karamati translation, 2016).

Also, the goal is not only to educate elites and those interested in mathematics or special people who want to continue mathematics at the university level, but in this program, the purpose of teaching mathematics is to improve the lives of students. Therefore, establishing a connection between mathematics and everyday life, acquiring mathematical modeling and problem solving skills, developing thinking skills, establishing a connection between different mathematical representations and their interpretation and interpretation, establishing a connection between mathematics and other sciences, and in general, applying mathematical concepts in the surrounding environment and interpreting and analyzing them are among the main goals of this course (6th Elementary Mathematics Teacher's Guide, 2013).

Iranian students are not exempt from this rule. The results obtained from the third international study of mathematics and science shows that the country's educational outputs are significantly different even compared to developing countries. The scores of Iranian students in the math test were much lower than the average of the countries participating in the study. The average score of the participating countries in the Thames study was 495 (Shiondi Cheliche, 2019).

Given that one of the most important teaching methods and strategies that make it possible to achieve this goal and is very helpful in this field, is problem solving strategies, and given that this method is being implemented for the first time in the sixth grade math textbook in Iran, the present study investigates the effect of this method and its strategies. It is about reducing the math anxiety of sixth grade children in Qazvin city, because math anxiety is also a problem that has plagued Iranian children for a long time, especially Iranian girls. It has the dubious honor of being less interesting to everyone in the program of schools. Future teachers go through elementary school to hate mathematics. And then they return to primary schools to teach a new generation to hate mathematics. "

" Mathematics teacher has a great opportunity in front of him. If they spend their dedicated time training students in trivial operations, it kills their interest and attachment and prevents their intellectual growth and development. But if it arouses the students' curiosity by raising questions that are suitable for the students and their knowledge, and helps them solve the problems by posing questions, it can create enthusiasm and a means for independent thinking in them" (Polya, Aram translation, 1369).

Life in today's societies requires the use of various skills, among these skills are problem solving, reasoning, hypothesis making, hypothesis testing and Estimation, calculation skills, algebraic thinking, understanding geometric concepts, predicting results and so on. He pointed out that despite these findings, Thames studies indicate that the level of achievement of these skills is lower than expected (Lashkar Blooki, 2013).

Although mathematics is one of the important basic subjects during education, because students learn to think correctly in this subject, they often do not know how to learn mathematics. Therefore, phenomena such as math anxiety and test and grade anxiety are created and cause the students' performance to be weak.

Part of this weakness is due to the approaches and methods of education, which play an essential role in building a meaningful understanding and generalizing what has been learned to the real situation (Lashkar Blooki, 2013). On the one hand, this issue justifies the doubt in the effectiveness of traditional mathematics classes that have led to students' anxiety, including the imposition of teacher power, public exposure, and time constraints, and on the other hand, it justifies the use of modern methods of teaching mathematics (Mousavi, 2018). Because if anxiety takes on a chronic and continuous aspect, it can be considered a source of failure, irreconcilability, widespread desperation that deprives a person of most of his capabilities (Dadestan, 2011). Therefore, now the time has come to compensate for these deficiencies and create practical systems for teaching problem solving that is a different and path-breaking method, and education needs numerous and extensive researches, to first discover the principles governing this education and then its practical methods, and finally determine the place of this method in a school curriculum (quoted by Shiondi Cheliche, 2019).