Journal of Emerging Trends in Educational Research and Policy Studies: Home

Abstract:
The study examined the predictors of Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale for Nigerian secondary schools. It investigated the predictive validity of such factors as age, gender, location, class, subject interest, religion and type of schools. The descriptive research design of the survey type was used for the study. The population was the universality of Senior Secondary School students in Nigeria. A sample of 1,243 subjects selected by stratified random sampling technique from Ekiti, Imo and Kaduna States was used in the study. A 50-item Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale (MARS) was used as instrument to collect data. Multiple regression analysis was used to determine the predictive strength of each variable of MARS. The multiple R=0.256 indicates that there was a significant but low multiple relationship among the variables identified in the study. The results showed that religion has the strongest and most powerful strength of predicting MARS. However some variables not studied could cause unparalled hatred, negative attitude and total neglect of Mathematics which could result into abysmal failure and woeful performance. Consequently, it was recommended that the teaching of moral education and religious studies be intensified in the secondary schools at both rural and urban settings.

Keywords: prediction, validity, anxiety, rating scale, attitude, multiple regression, dependent and independent variables.

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