{"id":237,"date":"2016-11-29T23:50:05","date_gmt":"2016-11-30T06:50:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/danabjornson\/?page_id=237"},"modified":"2016-12-01T00:19:08","modified_gmt":"2016-12-01T07:19:08","slug":"my-research-proposal","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/danabjornson\/my-research-proposal\/","title":{"rendered":"Research Proposal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reducing Test Anxiety in Gifted and Non-Gifted Adolescent Mathematics Students:<\/h3>\n

A Mixed Methods Approach<\/h3>\n

Dana E. K. Bjornson (ne\u00e9<\/em> Allingham)<\/p>\n

The University of British Columbia<\/p>\n

April 10, 2015.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Introduction<\/h3>\n

Imagine this scenario: ten minutes ago, everything was fine.\u00a0 You had a great sleep, an even better breakfast, and now you are about to start your work for the day.\u00a0 Suddenly, you realize that your heart is starting to race, your palms are starting to sweat, and the simple task of writing your name on a piece of paper is causing your neck muscles to stiffen.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What you may or may not realize is that your body is responding to your brain\u2019s activation of its \u201cfight or flight\u201d mechanism.\u00a0 Now, this response would be appropriate and even beneficial if your job entailed running away from bears in a national park; however, in this scenario, imagine that you are sitting down to write a secondary-school mathematics test.\u00a0 While the math test is hardly about to devour you as if it were a hungry bear, your body is physiologically responding to the perceived<\/em> threat of danger, and your physical symptoms are as real as<\/em> if you were responding to the sudden appearance of a bear in front of you. In this scenario, you are experiencing an anxiety attack.<\/p>\n

Characteristics of Anxiety<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The central theme to all types of anxiety is worry<\/em>.\u00a0 Worry is a cognitive process that is characterized by having repetitive, negative thoughts of a perceived threat (Huberty, 2012, p. 30).\u00a0 \u00a0Table 1 in the Appendix lists typical characteristics of anxiety that can manifest themselves cognitively, behaviourally, and\/or physiologically.\u00a0 \u00a0Although none of these characteristics is particularly desirable, characteristics such as impaired concentration and defective memory, problem-solving difficulties, and cognitive dysfunctions are extremely harmful to one\u2019s achieving one\u2019s potent when one is about to write any sort of a test! Mathematics anxiety, specifically, can be described as \u201canxiety that interferes with one\u2019s ability to manipulate numbers and problem solve in mathematic related situations\u201d (Richardson & Suinn, 1972). Such anxiety results in a student\u2019s performing below his or her potential, and therefore compromises the reliability of the test.<\/p>\n

Anxiety and the Gifted Learner<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>Some characteristics of gifted learners make them more prone to experiencing higher rates of mathematics anxiety, whereas other \u2018gifted\u2019 characteristics tend to reduce or prohibit signs of anxiety.\u00a0 Although gifted learners typically exhibit positive traits such as high levels of intelligence, mental agility, creativity, high recognition vocabulary, and unflappable inquisitiveness, they can also possess negative traits such as perfectionism, low self-confidence, frequent instances of frustration, and a lack of perseverance (Distin, 2006, p. 22-30). How, then, does \u2018math anxiety\u2019 specifically affect gifted learners in a test setting?<\/p>\n

Relevance of this study<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>Having been a math educator since 1997, I find this topic very compelling.\u00a0 I have personally witnessed students experience test anxiety at every level of the spectrum. At its most innocuous, anxiety can make a student perspire before taking a test; at its worst, anxiety can psychologically paralyze students to the point of rendering them unable to attend school for months or contributing to their contemplating suicide.\u00a0 Although much research has been done on anxiety in general, very little has been done to investigate anti-anxiety strategies specific to a secondary mathematics classroom.\u00a0 It is my hope that this study will keep the conversation about and the investigation of math anxiety moving in a direction that will not only benefit students as they negotiate their math classes, but also as they transition through to adulthood as mathematically literate citizens.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Problem Statement<\/h3>\n

Purpose<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The purpose of this study is to examine how \u201cgifted\u201d and \u201cnon-gifted\u201d mathematics students respond to anxiety-reducing techniques within the context of their Mathematics 10 course.<\/p>\n

Research Questions<\/strong><\/h4>\n
    \n
  1. What are the causes or triggers specific to math anxiety in Grade 10 students?<\/li>\n
  2. How does exposure to anxiety-reducing techniques affect perceived anxiety levels immediately before testing has occurred?<\/li>\n
  3. Are there differences in how anxiety-reducing techniques affect the levels of math anxiety in \u201cgifted\u201d and \u201cnon-gifted\u201d students?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Critical Review of Literature<\/h3>\n

    Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>This review of literature includes both primary and secondary sources. \u00a0There are four articles from scholarly journals, two of which were based on the results of the authors\u2019 own primary research. This review also includes three research reports and two books pertaining to anxiety and to the gifted learner.\u00a0 This review will be organized under two major categories: mathematics anxiety and the gifted learner.<\/p>\n

    Mathematics Anxiety<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Conducting further research in the area of mathematics anxiety could potentially benefit all levels of education and society.\u00a0 One study has estimated that the numbers of students who experience mathematics anxiety is over one-third (Richardson & Suinn, 1972); on the other hand, two other studies (conducted by Cizek & Burg in 2006 and\u00a0 Huberty in \u00a02009) have estimated that \u201ctest anxiety,\u201d in general, affects somewhere between 25% and 40% of secondary students (as cited in Salend, 2011). \u00a0Multiple researchers also agree that math anxiety leads to avoidance of subjects involving mathematics, thereby limiting potential career paths for students who might otherwise succeed in those careers (Richardson & Suinn, 1970; Hembree, 1990; Ashcraft, 2002; Chernoff & Stone, 2014).\u00a0 Furthermore, in 1989, William Bush\u2019s study showed that elementary teachers suffering with their own math anxiety favoured teaching algorithms and skills as opposed to adhering to best practice guidelines that also emphasize concepts.\u00a0 Studying mathematics with such teachers, students are then more susceptible to developing a lack of understanding as to why<\/em> the algorithms are in place, and thus has the potential to create new generations of math-anxious students (as cited in Chernoff\u00a0 & Stone, 2014).\u00a0 Not surprisingly, elementary teachers exhibited the highest degree of mathematics test anxiety compared to all other groups in a meta-analysis process of synthesizing 151 previous studies (Hembree, 1990). It is clear, then, that math anxiety exists; so what can<\/em> mathematics researchers do to alleviate its effects and reduce its incidence?<\/p>\n

    Anxiety and the Gifted Learner<\/strong><\/h4>\n

    In 2013, I was in attendance at a public meeting in my children\u2019s school district in Langford, British Columbia.\u00a0 The meeting was intended to collect public feedback on the structuring of a new high school\u2019s being built in the district. Since I am a teacher in the gifted education program in Victoria, I asked the superintendent if there were any plans to create a similar program in the new secondary school.\u00a0 He promptly replied that, when this idea was last discussed, the teachers in his District were against<\/em> such a plan, as they \u201cdidn\u2019t want all of their smart kids to leave their classrooms.\u201d\u00a0 Sadly, this narrow understanding of the needs of the gifted learner is prevalent among teachers if they have not had some sort of professional training in the delivery of gifted education.\u00a0 Prior to training in gifted education, one group of teachers described gifted learners as \u201cbright, confident, and fortunate,\u201d whereas after the training, the same teachers used such terms as \u201cvulnerable, complex, and needy\u201d (Distin, 2006, p. 118).\u00a0 How \u201cneedy\u201d and \u201cvulnerable\u201d are such students?\u00a0 In a recent study of gifted students, researchers found a correlation of 0.56 between anxiety and depression in gifted high school students (Yazid, Bakar & Ishak, 2014).\u00a0 In other words, there is some correlation between test anxiety and above-average potential in mathematics.<\/p>\n

    Not all research agrees, however, that the gifted are more vulnerable than their non-gifted counterparts.\u00a0 In 1999, Zeidner and Schleyer studied 772 gifted and 716 regular Israeli students in Grades 4 to 9. \u00a0They found that the gifted students who were integrated into regular classrooms self-reported lower levels of academic anxiety, a finding which may be explained by their high academic self-efficacy nature.\u00a0 The Zeidner & Schleyer study, however, focusses on a younger student as opposed to an older student, that is, a student who may be facing academic challenges for the first time.\u00a0 In my own experience with gifted students, they will sometimes report, \u201cI never had to work for my grades, but that, now that the material is harder, I don\u2019t know how to study.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 In secondary school mathematics, the working memory must be accessed in most processes, since the problems almost always require multiple steps.\u00a0 When multiple steps are involved, working memory is required, and test anxiety increases in those who are predisposed to mathematics anxiety (Ashcraft & Krause, 2007). \u00a0Thus, for students who are experiencing mathematical challenges for the first time, frustration and avoidance of the subject are likely to occur.\u00a0 This sense of frustration may also be coupled with a lack of perseverance since gifted learners are not accustomed to having to \u201cwork\u201d for their comprehension of a concept or process (Distin, 2006, p. 36).<\/p>\n

    Indeed, many researchers report high levels of frustration for gifted learners due to setting unrealistic standards (Zeidner & Schleyer, 1999; Distin, 2006, p.34; Yazid et al., 2014).\u00a0 Compounding this effect are learning environments in which gifted students are segregated into separated programs for purely gifted learners.\u00a0 Zeidner & Schleyer found that these students\u2019 self-perception of their intellectual ability (their self-esteem) was much lower than their non-segregated counterparts.\u00a0 Zeidner and Schleyer concluded that the social comparison in a collective of highly able individuals could lead to the gifted learner\u2019s to feeling inadequate, frustrated, and increasingly anxious.\u00a0 Other studies have shown that unrealistic expectations (real or perceived) of parents and educators can also add fuel to the anxiety fire, a phenomenon which could be intensified should the students be in a specialized program for gifted learners (as cited in Yazid et al., 2014).<\/p>\n

    Conclusion<\/strong><\/h4>\n

    \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>Few will argue that the demands on classroom teachers in all secondary subjects have increased over the past four decades.\u00a0 As educational research continues to dig more deeply and more broadly into existing and trending topics, and as access to this new research has become accessible to anyone with an internet connection, educators are assuming responsibilities beyond simply teaching their subject matter.\u00a0 Moreover, with the rampant use of state-sponsored standardized testing, teachers are not only losing valuable class time to test preparation, they are also being required to cover a vast number of state-mandated learning outcomes.\u00a0 These \u201chigh stakes\u201d tests (that in British Columbia are mostly administered at the Grade 10 level) are also contributing to heightened anxiety throughout the student population, gifted or otherwise (Salend, 2011).<\/p>\n

    Not only will this study target the population of students who are facing high stakes, government exams for the first time, it will also provide evidence that justifies and supports teachers\u2019 decisions to utilize class time to coach their students through their test anxiety that may exist in the math classroom.\u00a0 As Grade 10 gifted learners may be experiencing genuine academic challenges for the first time, and since they have a wide array of characteristics unique to their cohort, this research may shed more light on the anti-anxiety techniques that work best for them as a subset of the secondary school population.<\/p>\n

    Research Method<\/h3>\n

    Description of research methods<\/strong><\/h4>\n

    \u00a0<\/strong>For my study, I intend to do a \u201cmixed methods\u201d approach that provides opportunity to maximize the benefits and counter the drawbacks of both the qualitative and quantitative research processes. Utilising a quasi-experimental, non-equivalent control group design field experiment that monitors students\u2019 anxiety levels using a survey, I will also have a subset of the students undergo a series of reflections and structured interviews.\u00a0 As the quantitative surveys and the qualitative reflections will be conducted concurrently throughout the semester, I will apply the triangulation mixed methods design, also known as QUAN-QUAL, so that statistically significant findings are validated by students\u2019 comments.<\/p>\n

    Participants<\/strong><\/h4>\n

    Description of participants. <\/strong>Four classes will be utilized for this study: two gifted and two regular, academic Mathematics 10 classes. Two of the classes will constitute the experimental group, and two of the classes will constitute the control group.\u00a0 The control group, consisting of two classes (one gifted and one regular), will be taught by other teachers; however, I will teach the experiment group.\u00a0 For qualitative component, three students who have a \u201cmoderate\u201d amount mathematics anxiety will be recruited from each experimental class.<\/p>\n

    Rationale for selection and exclusion of participants. \u00a0<\/strong>As I mentioned in the Review of Literature, studies involving anxiety in gifted learners have focussed for the most part on intermediate and middle school years, not on Grade 10. Due to \u201chigh stakes\u201d testing starting in Grade 10 in British Columbia, this grade represents a group in which a significantly higher degree of stress is introduced into students\u2019 lives.\u00a0 Compounding this negative effect, researchers report that mathematics anxiety tends to peak in Grades 9 and 10 (Hembree, 1990). Students who are mathematically challenged tend to take Applied and Workplace (A & W) mathematics, and therefore the study\u2019s focus on the students in the academic mathematics course, Foundations and Pre-Calculus (FPC) Mathematics, will reduce threats to validity resulting from statistical regression. In the same vein, students who are tested with extremely high or low levels of pre-existing mathematics anxiety will not be utilized in the case study. These students will be selected based on a \u201cmoderate\u201d anxiety ranking on an initial, pre-test survey and in light of their post-unit test responses to the first reflection activity.\u00a0 I will look for students who provide reflections in a thorough and seemingly honest manner. Finally, I wish to exclude students from the case study who are repeating the course, so that all participants in this component of the study have the same level of mathematics experience prior to entering the study.<\/p>\n

    Recruitment. <\/strong>\u00a0Utilising my own classes for the experimental group will make some of the recruitment very simple.\u00a0 The challenge will be to recruit two additional classes to serve as controls: one gifted and one regular.\u00a0 I will be contacting other Mathematics 10 teachers from across the district to secure these control groups for two reasons. Typically, my school only has one gifted Math 10 class per year; however, across town there is another district gifted education program.\u00a0 Secondly, in order to reduce the effect of treatment diffusion, having the control groups located outside of my school would likely eliminate that effect. Prior to choosing these control groups, I would need to determine what strategies and policies the teacher(s) already utilize. Ultimately, I would like to find colleagues who teach mathematics with more traditional, potentially anxiety-causing techniques, such as timed tests.\u00a0 It is possible that I may have to recruit outside of my school district, however, in order to satisfy this condition.<\/p>\n

    Ethical issues. <\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Parental permission will unquestionably be required for students whom I wish to participate in the study. \u00a0It is feasible that a student with extreme anxiety issues would be uncomfortable or potentially unable to participate. Ultimately, participation in my study would be voluntary and names would be held in confidence, with the best interests<\/em> of the students<\/em> always being held <\/em>paramount<\/em>.\u00a0 Documents will be held in strict confidence, and only data pertaining to overall results of the study will be released to the public. No data or instruments will be destroyed for five years, during which these will be securely stored in locked filing cabinets and on a password-controlled computer. General results of the study, however, will disseminated to student participants, their parents, and their teachers upon conclusion of the study.<\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Instruments <\/strong><\/p>\n

    \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Quantitative component. <\/strong>\u00a0In the first week of class, I will administer a cross-sectional survey that takes a quick snapshot of the students\u2019 self-perceived mathematics anxiety levels (Appendix, Figure 1).\u00a0 The survey consists of some basic demographic information, such as name, age, and whether or not this is the first time taking the course. It then proceeds to use a 5-point Likert scale from \u201cExtremely\u201d to \u201cNot at all\u201d that asks students to rank ten statements pertaining to their emotional and distress levels that they tend to experience during math tests and in completing practice work. Since this survey has been adapted from the Westside Anxiety Test, its statements are specific to mathematics anxiety, as opposed to test anxiety in general (Driscoll, 2007).\u00a0 Each response is given a point value; and survey-takers\u2019 responses will be averaged to a score out of five in each case. Using Westside\u2019s rating system, I will be able to determine the anxiety levels of my students quickly and effectively (Appendix, Table 2).\u00a0 A quick search in UBC\u2019s Commons listed numerous studies that have used this anxiety scale to quantify anxiety levels resulting from testing, thus providing me with confidence levels pertaining to the validity of this survey. \u00a0The survey will be administered using the CPS Student Response System, which will allow for students to enter in their responses into a \u201cclicker\u201d without fear of their neighbours\u2019 looking at their self-assessment. \u00a0\u00a0At the end of the course, I will administer this identical survey to compare where they are presently in their mathematics anxiety with their anxiety level before taking the course.<\/p>\n

    The second component to the quantitative piece will be the pre-math test survey, entitled \u201cPre-Math Test Check-in.\u201d\u00a0 This is a self-developed, 4-point Likert Scale that allows students to determine graphically which statement most describes how they are feeling immediately before they write each unit test in the course.\u00a0 Instead of utilizing words to describe their feelings, I have chosen to utilize an arrow system that students can use to judge reliably their frame of mind both quickly and effectively (Appendix, Figure 2). \u00a0Students will read seven statements, one at a time.\u00a0 The leftmost statements represent the statements with which a typically calm and prepared student would identify, whereas the rightmost statements would typical of students who exhibit signs of mathematics anxiety.\u00a0 Students can also gauge to what extent they identify with a side by choosing either the single arrow, \u201c<\u201d or the double arrow, \u201c<<\u201d.<\/p>\n

    Qualitative Component. <\/strong>The day after each unit test has been written, each student will complete a very short reflection sheet that completes the following statements:<\/p>\n