Development of math anxiety in prospective elementary teachers

International audienceSome people develop math anxiety whenever they are confronted with tasks that require mathematical skills. Math anxiety influences learners and their performance negatively. Furthermore, the math anxiety of teachers has an impact on their students. Therefore, one challenge of elementary teacher education is preventing and reducing math anxiety, especially at the beginning of the teacher training program. In this study, we investigate the development of math anxiety in prospective elementary teachers in Germany during the first semester at university. We provide the first results regarding the influence of math anxiety on dropouts at the beginning of the teacher training program. Finally, we describe differences regarding the development of math anxiety of prospective elementary teachers at three universities