• Communications of Mathematical Education
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.17-48
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• 2017

This case study examined mathematics anxiety of a public high school sophomore who was unable to perform well in mathematics but later overcame his fear of mathematics. In this study, he showed high levels of mathematics anxiety in the assessment tools that evaluate mathematical anxiety factors. Cognitive and behavior treatments were carried out to alleviate his anxiety. First, cognitive treatments that were implemented include: understanding his own problems, writing down his thoughts on a record sheet, and changing intermediate and core beliefs. This paper explored cognitive and affective changes and reactions during the treatment process. Second, behavioral treatments that were conducted include: the divided-page method and peer tutoring. The divided-page technique involves the test subject to write down and solve his problems on a note to see what kind of cognitive and affective changes occur during the process. This paper also explored how Su-chul, an overly competitive student, changed and reacted cognitively and affectively through peer tutoring. The results revealed that Su-chul's exam anxiety, as well as other factors, has decreased. Moreover, he regained his self-confidence by solving math problems that he had felt difficult. His competitive attitude also has turned into a cooperative and thoughtful one.

• Journal of Educational Research in Mathematics
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.791-818
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• 2016

This case study is performed to check the validity of cognitive behavioral therapy for high school students with mathematics anxiety. In order to find out whether it is effective or not, one female high school student who suffers physically and mentally from mathematics anxiety was selected and cognitive behavioral therapy was applied. The therapy is applied to her for 30 to 40 minutes, once a week, and for eight weeks. The main themes were: To understand my problem, To write down thinking log, To set up a plan for actions, To experiment actions, To change intermediate confidence, To change core belief. To check the validity, before and after the experiment, revised version of Heo(1996)'s assessment tools for mathematics anxiety was applied. The subject was interviewed and the results of the therapy were compared and analyzed. According to the research, the worst mathematics anxiety of the subject was test anxiety. After the procedure, the anxiety related to mathematics and teachers was lessened. Especially, the subject had changed her mind and become more positive and optimistic on solving difficult mathematics problems. Therefore, the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy on mathematics anxiety was confirmed. It is required to construct special program - about cognitive behavioral therapy, interactions of cognitive-affective causes, and group therapy - and check the validity of it.