Anxiety in Mathematics Learning Among Secondary School Learners: A Comparative Study between Tanzania and Malaysia

Mathematical anxiety affects all aspects of teaching and learning mathematics. This study aimed to compare mathematical anxiety levels and its impacts on performance between Malaysia and Tanzania secondary schools mathematics learners. The study was performed using correlation survey. The instrument used to measure students mathematics Anxiety was Mathematics anxiety scale 24- Item MARS-A from 98-item MARS-A. The t-test results revealed that there were higher mean scores in test related anxiety in Malaysian students (2.56) than Tanzanian students (2.33) suggesting that the Malaysian students are more anxious than Tanzanian students. The results also showed no significant difference between gender and mathematical anxiety in both countries. Furthermore, the findings showed that the senior students (form 3) were more feared mathematics compared to junior students (form 1) in both countries. Interestingly, almost all results revealed negative and significant correlation between anxiety and students grades in Malaysia and Tanzania. This study suggests that the students' performances are impacted with mathematics anxiety. This paper contributes important information for mathematical anxiety and achievement which is a key challenge in educational arena, developing nations in particular.