COOPERATIVE LEARNING AND MATHEMATICS ANXIETY

IN THE COLLEGE ALGEBRA CLASSROOM

Nikita Patterson, Graduate Student

North Carolina State University

ncollins@mindspring.com

Angela L. Teachey, Graduate Student

North Carolina State University

teachey@mindspring.com

Mathematics anxiety and cooperative learning are two highly researched areas in mathematics education today. Research by Johnson and Johnson (1998) and by Norwood (1994) reveals that the use of cooperative learning in mathematics classrooms results in higher student achievement and in reduced levels of mathematics anxiety than the traditional lecture method of instruction. Mathematics anxiety correlates negatively with high student achievement (Ma,1999).

During the fall semester 1999, at North Carolina State University, three college algebra instructors (all graduate students) participated in a cooperative learning study, led by Dr. Karen Norwood. Each instructor taught two sections of college algebra: an experimental section, taught with an emphasis on cooperative learning, and a control section, taught in the traditional lecture style. Students in all sections completed Aiken’s Revised Attitude Scale at the beginning and at the end of the course. All sections used graphing calculators.

Student achievement data and the data from the attitude scale are still being analyzed. This poster session will outline the results of the study.

References

Johnson, D. W. (1998). Cooperative Learning Returns to College. Change, 30(4), 27-35.

Ma, Xin. (1999). A Meta-Analysis of the Relationship Between Anxiety Toward Mathematics and Achievement in Mathematics. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 30(5), 520-540.

Norwood, K. S. (1994). Assessing the Cooperative Learning Outcomes in Mathematics at the Early Postsecondary Level: Implications for Minority Students. Advances in Program Evaluation, 2,187-205.