RUME 25
2023
Omaha, Nebraska
What Do the Calculus I Students Say About the Impact of IBL on Their Math Anxiety
Page: 627
Math anxiety negatively affects student learning and academic performance. Students with high math-anxiety exhibit physical, mental, and emotional symptoms. These symptoms often have a short-term and long-term impact on students’ mathematics learning and their performance both inside and outside of school. This study investigated the effects of inquiry-based learning (IBL) on Calculus I students’ math anxiety, compared to lecture-based instruction. The short version of the Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale (MARS-S) was used as a pre- and post-test to identify the students whose anxiety from pre- to post-test—greatly increased, greatly decreased, and did not change much. The selected participants were interviewed one-on-one to understand their perceptions and experiences of learning Calculus I. The results showed that some activities, such as the opportunity to work in groups, optional and ungraded homework, and the instructor's welcoming, caring, and amicable nature decreased IBL students’ anxiety. On the other hand, the instructor’s readiness to explain the material in class when students asked him to do so and his care for student success decreased lecture-based students’ anxiety. However, the tests and exams and anticipating the instructor’s call for a response increased anxiety among both groups of students.