The Effect of Background Music on the Mathematics Test Anxiety of ...

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30 Research Question 1. Does the use <strong>of</strong> background music played while students study ten minutes prior to an exam, as opposed to the students studying in silence ten minutes prior to an exam, reduce the level <strong>of</strong> mathematics test anxiety? Hypothesis 1A. <strong>The</strong>re will not be a statistically significant difference in the preexam anxiety scores between the experimental and control groups as measured by the MARS. Hypothesis 1B. <strong>The</strong>re will be a statistically significant difference in the pre-exam anxiety scores and the post-exam anxiety scores <strong>of</strong> the experimental group as measured by the MARS. Research Question 2. Will there be a significant difference in the achievement scores <strong>of</strong> the students exposed to background music while studying ten minutes prior to an exam as opposed to the students studying in a silent classroom for ten minutes prior to an exam? Hypothesis 2A. <strong>The</strong>re will be a statistically significant difference in the achievement scores between the experimental and control groups as measured by the first course exam. Hypothesis 2B. <strong>The</strong>re will not be a statistically significant difference in the achievement scores between the students with lower test anxiety in the control and experimental groups as measured by the first course exam. In contrast, there will be a statistically significant difference in the
31 achievement scores between the students with higher test anxiety in the control and experimental groups as measure by the first course exam. <strong>The</strong> research format was a 2 x 2 design with one between-subjects independent variable termed Anxiety Treatment Groups (experimental versus control) and one withinsubjects independent variable termed Anxiety Measurement Occasion (pre-exam versus post-exam). <strong>The</strong> dependent variable that addresses Hypothesis 1A and Hypothesis 1B was response to the 25-item Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale. <strong>The</strong> scoring range for this scale was 25 to 125. Hypothesis 1A was tested by an independent samples t-test. Hypothesis 1B was tested by a t-test for related measures. Additionally a two-way mixed analysis <strong>of</strong> variance (one between-subjects independent variable and one within-subjects independent variable) was used to determine whether or not a significant interaction occurred. In this potential interaction, the experimental group may decrease in MARS test anxiety from pre to post, but the control group may remain relatively constant in MARS anxiety. <strong>The</strong> dependent variable that addressed Hypothesis 2A and Hypothesis 2B was the first College Algebra exam for the semester. <strong>The</strong> scores for the exam could range from 0-100. Hypothesis 2A and Hypothesis 2B were tested by an independent samples t-test. Additionally a two-way between-subjects analysis <strong>of</strong> variance was used to determine whether or not a significant interaction occurred. In this potential interaction, the achievement scores for students with higher test anxiety may differ between the control and experimental groups, but the achievement scores for the students with lower test anxiety may not differ between the two treatment groups.
Page 1 and 2: The Effect
Page 3 and 4: iii Acknowledgements I would like t
Page 5 and 6: v Table of Content
Page 7 and 8: vii LIST OF TABLES Table 1 Factors
Page 9 and 10: CHAPTER 1 Rationale, Literature Rev
Page 11 and 12: 3 Spielberger (1985) described trai
Page 13 and 14: 5 Factor analyses. Researchers have
Page 15 and 16: 7 Anxiety Subscale of</stro
Page 18 and 19: 10 Table 1 (continued) Ferguson (19
Page 20 and 21: 12 to 66 students attending the Tex
Page 22 and 23: 14 the Missouri Mathematics Placeme
Page 24 and 25: 16 differences between the mean exa
Page 26 and 27: 18 students to one of</stro
Page 28 and 29: 20 background music on reading comp
Page 30 and 31: 22 Anxiety level. Researchers have
Page 32 and 33: 24 The final study
Page 34 and 35: 26 Definitions math-test-anxious st
Page 36 and 37: 28 group, while sections 002 and 00
Page 40 and 41: 32 CHAPTER 3 Results This research
Page 42 and 43: 34 Table 2 Hypothesis 1B: 2 (Anxiet
Page 44 and 45: 36 Hypothesis 2A The</stron
Page 46 and 47: 38 Table 3 Hypothesis 2B: Pre-Exam
Page 48 and 49: 40 group between lower anxiety and
Page 50 and 51: 42 Figure 2 Hypothesis 2B: Interact
Page 52 and 53: 44 CHAPTER 4 Discussion The
Page 54 and 55: 46 low anxiety students or the high
Page 56 and 57: 48 References Alexander, L., & Cobb
Page 58 and 59: 50 D'Ailly, H., & Bergering, A. (19
Page 60 and 61: 52 Mowsesian, R., & Heyer, M. (1973
Page 62 and 63: 54 Wolf, R., & Weiner, F. (1972). <
Page 64 and 65: 56 APPENDIX A Last 4 digits <strong

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