How Undergraduate engineering students with Math Anxiety Persist through their Academic Careers

Jessica Ohanian Perez

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Conference: 2025 ASEE PSW Conference
Location: California Polytechnic University, California
Publication Date: April 10, 2025
Start Date: April 10, 2025
End Date: April 12, 2025
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--55178
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/55178

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Jessica Ohanian Perez California State Polytechnic University, Pomona orcid.org/0000-0002-8720-9282

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Abstract

Background and Motivation Math anxiety is one of the main reasons that students avoid majors that would require them to take math classes in the process (Ashcraft & Moore, 2009; Dowker et al, 2016). Lee (2009) has found that there are high achievers in math who are also highly math anxious. The antecedents of math anxiety were investigated by Luttenberger et al (2018) in which they have found that significant people in students’ lives, such as teachers, can affect students’ development of math anxiety. A qualitative study by Quan-Lorey (2017) found that teachers, self-imposed pressures, and bad grades are some of the roots of math anxiety. A motivation of this study is due to the observation that despite there being numerous studies surrounding math anxiety, most of the studies are with non-engineering college students. Some participants of this study have expressed the need to address math anxiety experienced by engineering majors due to the necessity of math in their respective majors. This study highlights that math anxiety also impacts engineering majors, and what they do to navigate their college careers while persisting through their math anxiety. In this study, I seek to answer the following research questions: (1) What factors affect undergraduate engineering students’ math anxiety in college? (2) What strategies high achieving students with math anxiety do to succeed? (3) Why do engineering students persist through their academic careers despite having math anxiety? Methods This qualitative study included 6 engineering students experiencing math anxiety that volunteered to participate. The participants are currently taking Calculus II, given most students in Calculus II are engineering majors and the target demographic. The study was conducted through semi-structured interviews where participants were asked about their earliest experience of math anxiety. From there, participants were asked how they have been navigating their academic career within their respective engineering major given their math anxiety. Furthermore, participants were asked about study and learning strategies they have implemented to help cope with their math anxiety. Aside from how they combat their math anxiety, a key factor that was investigated further was the students’ motivations and why they remained in the engineering academia despite their math anxiety. The goal is in knowing how they tackle it and what motivates them to do so will allow future educators and students to be aware of and minimize their math anxiety. Results In this poster report, I present evidence that all of the participants have unique experiences with math and the development of their math anxiety. Most of the roots of their math anxiety are aligned with the previously mentioned findings of Quan-Lorey (2017) and Luttenberger et al (2018). As they traverse through college, they find that the levels of their math anxiety vary depending on their teachers and the difficulty of the class. When participants were asked about their motivation in pursuing/persisting through their math anxiety, a couple of themes arose. One of which is the job security that comes with the engineering major that they chose. The other is their innate passion and determination to change the future for the better. I will also discuss in this poster how educators can adapt teaching strategies that the participants suggest to help minimize the development of math anxiety.

Citation
Format

Perez, J. O. (2025, April), How Undergraduate engineering students with Math Anxiety Persist through their Academic Careers Paper presented at 2025 ASEE PSW Conference, California Polytechnic University, California. 10.18260/1-2--55178

TY - CPAPER
AB - Background and Motivation
Math anxiety is one of the main reasons that students avoid majors that would require them to take math classes in the process (Ashcraft &amp;amp; Moore, 2009; Dowker et al, 2016). Lee (2009) has found that there are high achievers in math who are also highly math anxious. The antecedents of math anxiety were investigated by Luttenberger et al (2018) in which they have found that significant people in students’ lives, such as teachers, can affect students’ development of math anxiety. A qualitative study by Quan-Lorey (2017) found that teachers, self-imposed pressures, and bad grades are some of the roots of math anxiety. A motivation of this study is due to the observation that despite there being numerous studies surrounding math anxiety, most of the studies are with non-engineering college students. Some participants of this study have expressed the need to address math anxiety experienced by engineering majors due to the necessity of math in their respective majors. This study highlights that math anxiety also impacts engineering majors, and what they do to navigate their college careers while persisting through their math anxiety. In this study, I seek to answer the following research questions: (1) What factors affect undergraduate engineering students’ math anxiety in college? (2) What strategies high achieving students with math anxiety do to succeed? (3) Why do engineering students persist through their academic careers despite having math anxiety?
Methods
This qualitative study included 6 engineering students experiencing math anxiety that volunteered to participate. The participants are currently taking Calculus II, given most students in Calculus II are engineering majors and the target demographic. The study was conducted through semi-structured interviews where participants were asked about their earliest experience of math anxiety. From there, participants were asked how they have been navigating their academic career within their respective engineering major given their math anxiety. Furthermore, participants were asked about study and learning strategies they have implemented to help cope with their math anxiety. Aside from how they combat their math anxiety, a key factor that was investigated further was the students’ motivations and why they remained in the engineering academia despite their math anxiety. The goal is in knowing how they tackle it and what motivates them to do so will allow future educators and students to be aware of and minimize their math anxiety.
Results
In this poster report, I present evidence that all of the participants have unique experiences with math and the development of their math anxiety. Most of the roots of their math anxiety are aligned with the previously mentioned findings of Quan-Lorey (2017) and Luttenberger et al (2018). As they traverse through college, they find that the levels of their math anxiety vary depending on their teachers and the difficulty of the class. When participants were asked about their motivation in pursuing/persisting through their math anxiety, a couple of themes arose. One of which is the job security that comes with the engineering major that they chose. The other is their innate passion and determination to change the future for the better. I will also discuss in this poster how educators can adapt teaching strategies that the participants suggest to help minimize the development of math anxiety.

AU - Jessica Ohanian Perez
CY - California Polytechnic University, California
DA - 2025/04/10
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - How Undergraduate engineering students with Math Anxiety Persist through their Academic Careers
UR - https://peer.asee.org/55178
DO - 10.18260/1-2--55178
ER -