The Effect of Brain Breaks on Math Anxiety

Date of Award

Fall 12-19-2019

Document Type

Project (696 or 796 registration)

Degree Name

Master of Science in Curriculum & Instruction

Department

Graduate Studies

Committee Chair

David Tack

Keywords

brain breaks, math anxiety, high school

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of brain breaks on high school students’ mathematical anxiety. The study took place in a rural school district in Minnesota in Algebra 2 classes that consisted of high school sophomores and juniors. The study focused on two groups: a control group (n = 26) that received no brain breaks and an experimental group (n = 17) that received brain breaks every day during class for 4 weeks. Students completed the Abbreviated Mathematics Anxiety Scale, developed by Hopko et al. (2003), before and after the 4 weeks. The differences in AMAS scores were compared using a one-tailed t-test at an alpha level of 0.05 to see if there was a significant difference between the groups’ math anxiety levels. The study found that there was no significant difference in math anxiety levels between students who received brain breaks and students who did not after the 4 weeks. It also found that there was no significant difference in math anxiety levels before and after the 4 weeks of brain breaks in the experimental group.

Abstract only: No full text available.

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