Examining the psychological variable of exam anxiety and gender Differences in Secondary School Students' Mathematical Academic Performance

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to evaluate the differences in mathematics performance and exam anxiety between genders among secondary students. In order to determine whether there is a difference between male and female students, the anxiety levels of math students in secondary schools were examined. Three hypotheses served as the study's guiding principles. It was a correlational research design. Participants in the research included all 2,096 senior secondary school year two (SS2) math students in the Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State. 1,500 students were selected using the simple random selection technique. The Mathematics Anxiety Questionnaire (MAQ), which was validated by three subject matter experts, served as the main study instrument. It was used to evaluate students' anxiety pertaining to math exams. It was possible to determine the MAQ dependability index of 0.70 using Cronbach alpha. Data analysis was done applying Pearson product moment correlation. The study's findings demonstrated that exam anxiety had an impact on mathematics academic performance among secondary school students, irrespective of gender. Furthermore, there were notable differences in the academic performance in the areas of math and exam anxiety levels between secondary school students who are male and female. The study’s findings offered guidance to math instructors on the methods to properly use behaviour modification, modeling, and conditioning to help their students feel less anxious before mathematics tests.