Mathematics, Technology and Learning: How to Align These Variables in Order to Explain Anxiety Towards Mathematics and Attitude Towards the Use of Technology for Learning Mathematics

• Published in: Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education Science and Technology Education, 2017-09, Vol.13 (9), p.6211
• Main Authors: Navarro-Ibarra, Lizzeth, García-Santillán, Arturo, Cuevas-Salazar, Omar, Ansaldo-Leyva, Julio
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anxiety; Attitudes; Learning; Mathematics; Variables
• ISSN: 1305-8223; 1305-8215; 1305-8223
• DOI: 10.12973/eurasia.2017.01060a

The aim of study is determining the set of variables which explain a student anxiety towards mathematics, as well as the student attitude towards the use of technology in PLM. To do this, the RMARS and MTAS scales were used. The instruments were applied to 522 undergraduate students at ITSON. The statistical procedure was EFA. The results obtained for the RMARS scale are: Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity with KMO (0.689), χ2 of 603.529 with 3 df and sig. 0.000 p0.5, with an eigenvalue (2.219) which explains the 73.955 % of the total variance. In the MTAS Scale, Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity obtains a KMO value (0.678), χ2 of 427.405 with 10 df and sig. 0.000 with MSA values more than >0.5 in all cases, indicating that the variables of the MTAS Scale allow for establishing students’ attitude towards mathematics and towards learning it using technology. The empirical evidence obtained allows us to believe that the use of technology may be a variable influencing students’ attitude towards the process of teaching-learning mathematics measured using ICT, and that anxiety over mathematics may be a factor which determines this attitude.