Why are the school students in Qatar anxious upon Mathematics?

Certain aspects like anxiety, gender, school-centred aspects, socio-economic status of the guardians etc. have an influence on the students' performance in study. In Qatar, it has been observed that many school-going students do not like the subject of Mathematics. On asking they responded that they are scared and anxious about the particular subject.

As per analysis was done by the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2012, the data on the gender and anxiety of the students, and other school factors that have an impact on the learning consequences in the form of test scores of mathematics. The outcomes pinpoint an important relationship between the mathematics test score and anxiety. Support is given to the inverse relationship after making certain adjustments for other components that may lay significant influence on the performance in mathematics inclusive of the lower maths score among the nervous students.

Major factor:

It is assumed that a major factor related to the link between anxiety and performance concerning mathematics can be the teaching strategies which may fail to address the students’ psychological and cognitive requirements. Target should be on the degree to which the strategies of teaching executed on the learners’ needs for improving the results of the learning concerning mathematics in the secondary school level.

The assessment has been done on the efficiency of different approaches of teaching as well as the impact on the performance akin mathematics in relation to the level of anxiety among the students. Hence, as per the discussion, a proposal has been given on Qatar’s teaching strategies. It is said that the methods can be reviewed with a detailed view to fulfil the anxious students’ needs in a better way for boosting their performances nationally.

Qatar’s students’ performance in mathematics is substantially lower than the average students around the globe. The average score of mathematics is not much different between male and female learners, but it is found that male students are more nervous if compared to females.

Social factors:

The students have several social factors, academic abilities and cognitive functioning skills that can be linked with different degrees of anxiety dedicated towards mathematics. A concoction of these factors is attributed to the study of mathematics.

The social factors like the parents and family support can be a significant factor that attributes towards the students’ perception about the subject mathematics and the related anxiety, especially in terms of mathematical concepts. This is the case in those households that have low socioeconomic status.

Again, students who have low self-esteem and don’t get enough motivation for the study of mathematics can be very anxious about their performance. Another aspect is the cognitive functioning ability which is often linked to forgetfulness like facing retainment of the learned concepts of mathematics.

Moreover, deficiency in understanding of some mathematical concepts that are already taught in the school due to the personal learning difficulties like lack of focus which is often observed among the young students can lead to anxiety.
 
Working memory:

An element of cognitive ability is working memory which is considered as a contributing factor of mathematics anxiety. It is seen that emotional reaction can lay a negative influence on the working memory which outcomes ingrown anxiety among the students. Also, the teaching methods that are used and the traits of the teachers can impact on the perception of the students about mathematics in a big way.

Academic factors:

Certain academic factors like the usage of the traditional teaching styles, and the teachers having anxiety related to teaching, and the correlated presentation of the content mathematics, etc. can have a robust impact on the students’ anxiety in learning concepts of mathematics.

The anxiety towards the subject Mathematics is a critical obstruction that stops the students to pursue further mathematical studies at the post-secondary level. There is a global deficit of efficiently trained people in professional Science, technology and Mathematics fields.

Measures should be taken to address the mathematics anxiety for increasing the number of students in this field at both the secondary and the tertiary level. Qatar is trying varying steps to fruitfully solve the issues and be competitive in the careerist market.