Maths anxiety in psychology undergraduates: A mixed-methods approach to formulating and implementing interventions

A key challenge to educators in disciplines that, while not maths based, nevertheless<br/>contain some maths component, is mathematics anxiety. Over the years, a number of<br/>intervention strategies have been tested, seeking reduce maths anxiety in undergraduates.<br/>Many of these studies, however, contain methodological issues that challenge their validity. It<br/>is also unclear how many of these studies decide which type of interventions to use. This<br/>research sought to correct both of these issues. In Study 1, focus groups were carried out to<br/>explore which interventions students believed would most likely reduce their maths anxiety.<br/>Study 2 implemented those interventions that Study 1 showed to be practical and potentially<br/>effective, utilising a large sample of Year 1 and Year 2 psychology undergraduates,<br/>controlling for potential methodological confounds. Results showed that only one<br/>intervention (teaching quantitative research methods using real-life examples) had any<br/>significant effect on maths anxiety, and this was slight. These results, while not impressive by<br/>themselves, do suggest ways in which larger-scale interventions could seek to proceed in<br/>terms of reducing maths anxiety.