• Research in Mathematical Education
• /
• v.19 no.2
• /
• pp.117-139
• /
• 2015

For the purpose of determining neurophysiological mechanism of math anxiety, we conducted an EEG measurement for 22 sixth grade elementary students including 11 students with high math anxiety (HMA group), and 11 students with low math anxiety (LMA group). We found that in HMA group, delta wave was significantly generated from the right frontal lobe, and in LMA group, four paths are clearly connected while they perform math tasks (right inferior occipital gyrus ${\leftrightarrow}$ left superior parietal lobule /left middle frontal gyrus ${\leftrightarrow}$ left inferior parietal lobule /left middle frontal gyrus ${\leftrightarrow}$ right inferior parietal lobule / right middle frontal gyrus ${\leftrightarrow}$ right inferior parietal lobule). According to the above results we suggest that math anxiety is related to emotions associated with pain, reduces working memory and has a negative effect on math performance.

• The Mathematical Education
• /
• v.55 no.3
• /
• pp.383-396
• /
• 2016

This study investigated highschool students' brain waves on functional tasks such as a transition(F task) from equation to graph and the other transition(G task) vice versa. A total of 39 students participated in the study who attended a high school located in Gyunggi province. These students were divided into two groups, HMA and LMA by MASS test revised by Ko, & Yi (2012). The functional tasks for the stroop task to measure EEG were provided from a previous study, Seok(2015). The results indicated two groups on G tasks showed deeper and wider brain waves which demonstrated G tasks were more difficult than F tasks. However, HMA group had an effect of the non-psychological program which had given more chances on G tasks rather than F tasks within Students' Zone of Proximal Development. Also, HMA group's brain waves had more ranges in amplitude and width of waves. These results imply that the characteristics of students' brain waves with math anxiety are consistent to the previous studies.

• Journal of Educational Research in Mathematics
• /
• v.26 no.2
• /
• pp.205-224
• /
• 2016

Nowadays technological instruments are advanced to measure brain waves called EEG. Also, it is important to find some facts that cause students to have mathematic anxiety (MA) and to provide remedy programs to lessen their MA in order to help students cure MA that could contribute to negative self-efficacy toward mathematics and mathematical learning. To find how they change the MA level, a small group of 11 high school students in Suwon city participated for ten weeks at the remedy program based on students' levels of MA diagnosed by MASS instrument (Ko, & Yi, 2011) and proofread by 8 advisors who worked in related research areas. The results showed that the remedy program was effective to lessen students' MA and it should provide a long term period since some negative experiences were accumulated for a long time of his or her past schooling by others such as teachers, peers, and parents. EEG showed that students got better scores on a percent of correct answers and a reaction time and some student' EEG from a group HMA became smaller heights and width in comparison of the other groups.