Emphasis on mathematical concepts and its relation to developmental mathematics students' performance, anxiety, and attitude

Many students attend community colleges and need a refresher course in mathematics. Since mathematics is cumulative, it is important to provide students with a solid foundation on which to build success. This study investigated the effect teaching with an emphasis on concepts and definitions using manipulative materials, pictorial representations, small group activities, discussions regarding study skills, and discussions about mathematics anxiety would have on the mathematics anxiety, attitudes, understanding, performance, and self-confidence of students in the study. Twenty-one basic mathematics skills classes, with an enrollment of 295 students, were studied. There were sixty-three students in the treatment group and 232 students in the control group. Students were considered to be non-traditional if they had been out of high school five years or more. Departmental pretests and posttests were used to determine mathematics success. Mathematics anxiety and attitude scales were used to measure students' mathematics anxiety and attitude. A questionnaire was used to determine students' self-confidence and plans to take subsequent mathematics classes.;The data from the mathematics tests and the anxiety and attitude scales were analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance. There was no apparent difference in students' mathematics success. No gender difference in achievement was found. Nontraditional students in the treatment group were more successful on the mathematics posttest. Nontraditional students in the entire population had a higher success rate than traditional students. More students from the treatment group planned to take college algebra or higher mathematics courses. All students reported an increase in self-confidence in their mathematics ability. Nontraditional students in the treatment group decreased their mathematics anxiety and improved their mathematics attitude more than other students in the study; they appeared to be more responsive to emphasis on understanding. Students in all classes reported how instructors affected their self-esteem and self-confidence by believing in their ability to learn mathematics.