Abstract
This paper examines the correlative effects of stress levels on examination results, particularly in areas of academic study where students are already struggling. The research examines the test scores and stress levels of remedial and basic-level mathematics students in the undergraduate level, tracking their changes in stress level over time and the effects that changes in stress level has on a student’s academic performance in in-class mathematics examinations.
Introduction
Stress levels can seriously affect the overall quality of life that an individual is able to achieve. In tertiary institutions like colleges and universities, stress levels for students just learning to properly negotiate the new experiences they are having are quite high. The topic of discussion for this particular research project will be the effect of a student’s stress levels on that student’s scores in entry-level mathematics examinations. In particular, the topic for research will focus on students who already exhibit some form of underperformance or lack of familiarity with college-level mathematics; remedial mathematics and the effect of stress levels on the student’s performance in these courses is the main point of discussion throughout this research project.
Betz (1978) examined the prevalence of what the researchers termed “math anxiety” in students in undergraduate institutions. Although the research is currently out-of-date, it was groundbreaking research in that it was the first to indicate that there are very real psychological factors that influence a student’s ability to perform in the math classroom that are also independent of that student’s actual mathematical abilities (Betz, 1978). Ashcraft and Kirk (2001) expanded upon Betz’s 1978 research, discovering that math anxiety is correlated with past experiences in the mathematical classrooms, and is compounded by the levels of stress the individual student is feeling in his or her life outside the classroom (Ashcraft and Kirk 2001). Womble (2002) and Vogel and Collins (2009) also suggest that there is a strong correlative link between a student’s anxiety levels outside the classroom and that student’s performance in a high-stress classroom situation, such as an examination.
This research will consider two variables: the first variable will be the student’s stress level, self-reported and calculated from a variety of factors. The second variable will be the student’s performance in a series of examinations. The researchers hypothesize that these variables will be closely related to each other, demonstrating that stress level will have a strong negative impact on the student’s examination grade.
Methods
The participants will be 100 students taken at random from the remedial and basic mathematics classes offered to MSU undergraduates. To ensure that the experiment is not skewed towards one demographic, the participants will be half male and half female, each chosen at random with no concern for ethnicity, age, or other information. For their participation in the study, the students will receive monetary compensation for each survey filled out and for the submission of their examination grades. The purpose of this research project is to compare stress levels in a student to his or her performance in a subject area where he or she is already struggling-- in this case, mathematics.
The student surveys will be created by the researcher, with special attention paid to the stress factors in the student’s life outside of the classroom. Questions will be grouped into three categories: personal, financial, and academic stresses. It will ask the student to rate their stress level on a scale of 1-10, and will aggregate and average the numbers from each group of questions to obtain a stress level number for the student. The student will re-take this survey three times over the course of the semester, just prior to taking an examination in their normal mathematics course. The surveys will be given on paper, immediately before the student takes the exam; students will be instructed to answer honestly and fully. This will allow the researcher to gauge the stress level of the student before the student sits the examination, giving the researcher a basis of comparison between the final exam grade and the stress level of the student.
Once the researcher obtains the surveys, he or she will average the scores given for each section and obtain a numerical stress level for each student based on his or her answers. The researcher will then correlate the stress levels with the student’s performance on the exam, comparing the student’s stress levels in different areas with his or her performance in the examinations over time.
In addition to the stress level of the student, certain demographic information will be obtained from the student if the student is willing to divulge it. Ethnicity, language preference, learning disabilities, gender and sexual identity, financial situation, and overall health will also be asked about on the survey. Students will be assured of the anonymity of the survey, but they will not be required to answer questions about these issues, as they are secondary to the primary focus of the research.
The stress levels of the student in each area of interest-- personal, financial, and academic stress levels-- will be tracked over the course of the semester, as will their exam grades. This will give the researcher an idea of the change in stress levels of a particular, individual student and the way that changes in stress levels affect academic performance, but also allows the researcher to do a correlational analysis of the data received for the students as a whole. The data will be analyzed to see if certain types of stress have a greater effect on student test scores than others. The secondary factors listed above can also be considered when correlating student stress level with academic performance.
Discussion
The researcher postulated that high stress levels, particularly academic stress, have a strong negative impact on examination performance for students at the undergraduate level in remedial or basic mathematics. In addition, personal and financial stress levels would have a negative impact on a student’s academic performance, but the overall effect of these types of stressors would be lower on academic performance than academic stress levels.
If indeed these results were supported by the data, then it would indicate that students who face academic stress-- or even other types of stress in their lives-- require special support systems from undergraduate institutions to become successful in their academic career. These results would also bear out the hypothesis that there is such a thing as “math anxiety,” where performance levels are dictated as much by the stress level of the student as his or her actual abilities.
This study relies upon self-reporting of stress levels, which is a large weakness in the study. A more scientific approach to determining stress level would strengthen the results and analyses that could be done with the data. Depending upon the results, further examination into the correlative effects of certain types of stress-- financial, academic, or personal-- on mathematical abilities and performance could easily be completed. In addition, further study into the effect of certain stressors on different demographics could add more depth of knowledge into the literature that exists today. In the existing literature, it is suggested that societal factors suppress women’s success levels in mathematics, and promote men’s confidence; however, little research has been done on college-level mathematics students facing issues of gender or sexual identity. In addition, comparison studies between mathematics students and liberal arts students who are struggling could easily be done. These comparisons would be excellent for researchers considering the way the brain deals with mathematical problem-solving versus other types of problem solving. This field is rich with questions regarding the human brain and stress levels, and there are many avenues to explore.
References
Ashcraft, M. and Kirk, E. (2001). The Relationships Among Working Memory, Math Anxiety, and Performance. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, pp. 224-237. [Accessed: 29 Aug 2013].
Betz, N. (1978). Prevalence, distribution, and correlates of math anxiety in college students. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 25 (5), pp. 441-448. [Accessed: 29 Aug 2013].
Hembree, R. (1998). Correlates, Causes, Effects, and Treatment of Test Anxiety. Review of Educational Research, 58 (1), pp. 47-77. [Accessed: 29 Aug 2013].
Vogel, H. and Collins, A. (2009). The relationship between test anxiety and academic performance. [online] Retrieved from: http://clearinghouse.missouriwestern.edu/manuscripts/333.php [Accessed: 29 Aug 2013].
Womble, L. (2002). Impact of stress factors on college students academic performance. [Accessed: 29 Aug 2013].
Zajacova, A., Lynch, S. and Espenshade, T. (2005). Self-efficacy, stress, and academic success in college. Research in Higher Education, 46 (6), [Accessed: 29 Aug 2013].
