AN INVESTIGATION OF THE MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS' MATHEMATICS EXAM ANXIETY AND SELF-EFFICACY FOR PROBLEM-POSING

Abstract

The aim of the study was to analyze the mathematics exam anxiety and problem-posing self-efficacy of middle school students in terms of their school, gender, and grade levels, as well as the relationship among these parameters. The research was conducted with 37 fifth grade students, 53 sixth grade students, 72 seventh grade students, and 77 eight grade students; in total 239 students in two middle schools in Kayseri province, Turkey in 2019. The data collection tools comprised the “Mathematics Exam Anxiety Scale”, developed by Şan (2014) and revised by Dulkadir (2017), and the "Problem Posing Self-Efficacy Scale", which was developed by Özgen (2019). For the analysis of the data the SPSS 25 package program was used. In the study, the reliability coefficient of the mathematics exam anxiety scale was found to be 0.486, and the reliability coefficient of the problem-posing self-efficacy scale was 0.942. Mathematics anxiety and problem posing self-efficacy did not differ significantly according to gender. A significant difference in mathematics exam anxiety was detected and the difference was between the fifth and seventh grades. No significant difference was found in the self-efficacy for problem posing at the grade levels. While mathematics examination anxiety showed a significant difference in terms of the schools, the self-efficacy for problem-posing did not differ significantly between schools.