A study on the correlation between mathematics anxiety and mathematics achievement in high school students

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the differences of the mathematics anxiety and mathematical achievement of high school students according to gender and grade, and to find out which mathematics anxiety causes have more influence on mathematical achievement and how much it is. The subjects of this study consist of 459 students selected for a class of unit, in high schools located in Seoul, Korea. Huh(1996)'s Mathematics Anxiety Scale was used. The collected data were analyzed by using the 24.0 SPSS program. The data were also tested by using the t-test, correlation and multiple regression. The major results of this study were as follows: Firstly, there was no difference in mathematics score according to gender, but mathematics anxiety was higher in girl students. Mathematics score and mathematics anxiety have significantly related each other. Boy students' mathematics scores were significantly explained by interest, Mathematical Achievement factor, and mathematical confidence factor. For girl students, mathematics achievement factor, interest were the significant predictors.
Secondly, mathematical anxiety and mathematics scores were correlated in the first and third grades, and the variables that predict mathematics scores significantly in all grades were interest.