THE EFFECT OF THE USE OF MATH ANXIETY REDUCTION TECHNIQUES ON THE ATTRITION RATE OF STUDENTS IN A COMMUNITY COLLEGE ALGEBRA COURSE

Statement of the Problem. The purpose of the study was to answer the question: Is there an effect on the student attrition rate in a community college algebra course when math anxiety reduction techniques are used.;Findings. (1) The attrition rate of students in the treatment group was significantly lower than the control group (p < .05). (2) Students who completed the course had a significantly lower initial math anxiety level than students who withdrew (p < .05). (3) Students in the treatment group did not significantly lower their math anxiety level over the semester when compared to the control group. (4) Students identified as math anxious did not significantly increase their mathematics achievement when comparing the treatment group to the control group. (5) The attrition rate of females was significantly higher than males (p < .01). (6) The attrition rate of females in the treatment group was significantly lower than females in the control group (p < .05). (7) The attrition rate of math anxious students was significantly higher than non-math anxious students (p < .05). (8) The attrition rate of math anxious students in the treatment group was significantly lower than math anxious students in the control group (p < .05). (9) The attrition rate of math anxious females was significantly higher than math anxious males (p < .05). (10) There was a significantly higher percent of math anxious females than math anxious males (p < .05).;Conclusions. The high attrition rate in community college algebra courses can be affected by the use of math anxiety reduction techniques. The students who seem to be very likely to withdraw from the courses are the math anxious and females, yet they profit most from using the techniques.;Procedure. The investigation was conducted at the Community College of Philadelphia. The subjects were 184 students (92 treatment, 92 control) in Mathematics 117, a developmental algebra course. The treatment was 10 math anxiety reduction techniques developed by the researcher. The data analyzed were derived from class records and scores on the MAS and EAS, both administered as a pre-test and post-test.