The Role of the Educator in Causing and Addressing Math Anxiety

This study endeavours to determine the role of the educator both in creating or perpetuating and in solving or addressing the existence of mathematics anxiety in their students. How common societal beliefs about mathematics impact the development of this anxiety is also examined. The central purpose of this study is to develop and/or refine instructional strategies that are effective for students with an anxiety about mathematics. The research focused solely on anxieties related to the mathematics classroom and curriculum - general school related anxieties were not examined. Research was conducted by consulting several research-based studies on this topic and was supplemented by evaluating practitioner aricles from teachers who have had experience in working with students with math anxiety and by clinical experiences in a local high school. The consensus of the research is that there is neither one distinct cause nor one single solution to the problem of math anxiety in students. In general, the cause and solution are unique to the individual student - though there are several common factors that may contribute to the development of math anxiety in a student and evidence has shown there are several insturcitonal strategies that may be effective for students with math anxiety.B.S. (Bachelor of Science