Have you ever noticed the reactions of students or even adults

when you discuss mathematics? Invariably, you will get a negative

reaction. Some will roll their eyes. Others will wag their head or let
out a sigh. Where does this attitude come from? This study will
explore the reasons why students dislike math. There have been
several studies on math anxiety (Ma 2009, Suinn 1973, & HO 2000
eg.). These studies have attempted to describe the affect anxiety
has on testing and achievement. But where does this dislike of
mathematics come from? What is its source? Could it be that
teachers affect their students? It could be that elementary teachers
need more content area knowledge (Murphy 2006, Ambrose 2004) or
maybe they believe early mathematics will be easy to teach
(Ambrose 2004). Maybe some teachers don’t like mathematics
themselves and that attitude passes to the students.
Another reason may be that the student got behind one year and
because of the sequential nature of mathematics was unable to
catch up. Maybe, it has to do with the difficulty of a particular grade
level. Maybe the students don’t understand why they will need
mathematics. They don’t see the real world connections.
This study will seek to determine what student attitudes are
about mathematics and in particular, if they dislike math, is there a
common reason.

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