Mathematics Anxiety Among Secondary School Students in Puri District of Odisha: An Empirical Study

Mathematics plays a vital role in a student's academic as well as everyday life. A large number of students experience mathematics anxiety, which negatively affects their performance in educational settings. The present study aimed to examine the overall level of mathematics anxiety among secondary students and also aimed to compare the mathematics anxiety based on demographical variables such as gender, type of school and medium of instruction. This study adopted a cross-sectional survey research design to conduct the study, and a total number of 220 secondary school students (13-15 years old) were selected as the sample through non-proportional stratified sampling techniques. The relevant data were collected using a standardized Mathematics Anxiety Scale and the collected data were analysed using descriptive statistics and t-tests. The findings of the study revealed that secondary school students experience a moderate level of mathematics anxiety. Further, the study revealed significant differences between male and female students, with male students showing higher mathematics anxiety in comparison to female students. Government secondary school students experience a higher mathematical anxiety compared to the private secondary school students and students who are studying in Odia medium secondary school had higher levels of mathematics anxiety than their English medium counterparts. The overall findings indicate that mathematics anxiety is influenced by various factors such as contextual, institutional, and medium of instruction. The study highlights the need for learner-friendly, concept-based, and supportive teaching practices to reduce mathematics anxiety among secondary school students. Improving instructional resources, reducing examination pressure, and adopting context-sensitive pedagogy may help in enhancing students’ confidence and performance in mathematics.