Implementing mastery approaches for the reduction of mathematics anxiety in primary school pre-service teachers

Parks, Geraldine (2024) Implementing mastery approaches for the reduction of mathematics anxiety in primary school pre-service teachers. Doctoral thesis, Liverpool Hope University.

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Abstract

Research indicates that mathematics anxiety is a significant issue that negatively affects teachers’ ability to teach, and pupils’ acquisition of numeracy. Mastery approaches to mathematics pedagogy have been proposed as one potential solution to reduce mathematics anxiety in teachers and learners. This study tested the hypothesis that using a mathematics mastery approach across a ten-week mathematics teaching module with primary school trainee teachers would reduce anxiety and anxious thoughts and feelings associated with teaching mathematics, as well as lead to increased confidence, motivation and attentional control, and less anxiety through training. The methodology of pedagogical action research (PedAR) was adopted, with the study taking place at one teacher-training college in Northern Ireland. A quasi-experimental sequential mixed-methods design drawing on quantitative and qualitative approaches was used, with two five-week cycles of quantitative data collection separated by a period of qualitative methods to inform preliminary analysis and reflection. The study included primary school trainee teachers in the second year of a Bachelor of Education degree. The cohort was split in two, with one group receiving a mathematics mastery intervention over ten weeks, whilst the other experienced teaching as usual. The mixed-methods approach enabled insights from the first cycle of data collection to inform the second cycle, as is typical for PedAR. Teacher mathematics anxiety and anxiety in teaching mathematics was measured before and after the intervention. In addition, a visual analogue scale was used to measure students’ weekly feelings of self-efficacy, motivation, anxiety, and attention following each mathematics class. The qualitative data comprised semi-structured interviews, undertaken between the two five-week cycles. Quantitative data indicated no significant change in mathematics anxiety before and after teaching. Comparing weekly measures indicated some advantages of the mastery approach compared with teaching as usual, with the mastery group reporting increased mastery (reflecting increased student self reported self-efficacy) in the mathematics material in the last five weeks compared with the first five weeks of teaching. In addition, qualitative data suggested that students responded favourably to the mathematics mastery approach. The results have important implications for the development of pedagogical approaches for the delivery of teaching and learning in teacher training mathematics provision.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Additional Information and Comments:	Copyright © The Author 2024. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request.
Faculty / Department:	Faculty of Education and Social Sciences > School of Education
Depositing User:	Matthew Adams
Date Deposited:	09 Jan 2025 16:11
Last Modified:	09 Jan 2025 16:11
URI:	https://hira.hope.ac.uk/id/eprint/4538

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