Abstract—One aspect that influences mathematics achievement is students' mathematics motivation, which is closely related to their mathematics anxiety. This study aims to incorporate a classroom intervention strategy using a brain-based teaching approach (BBTA) with technological tools to improve students' mathematics performance in pre-university studies. BBTA was used in the classroom to increase students’ mathematics interest and minimise their mathematics anxiety to increase mathematics performance. Two hundred and six (206) pre-university students were exposed to both BBTA and conventional instructions during their Statistic lessons. Questionnaire comprises of motivation and anxiety-related questions as well as pre and post mathematics tests were administered to these students. Based on the findings, students with low anxiety appeared to have more self-confidence when studying mathematics, which simultaneously improved their examination results. These two elements are critical in students' learning of mathematics because students who have low levels of anxiety and high levels of motivation in learning mathematics attain high achievement in mathematics.
Index Terms—Brain-based teaching approach (BBTA), mathematics motivations, mathematics anxiety, mathematics performance, pre-university, technological tools.
Farah Liyana Azizan is with Centre for Pre-University Studies, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia and School of Mathematical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia (corresponding author; e-mail: afliyana@unimas.my).
Nur Fazliana Rahim and Emmerline Shelda Siaw are with Centre for Pre-University Studies, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia (e-mail: rnfazliana@unimas.my, seshelda@unimas.my).
Kartini Abd Ghani is with the Psychology Program, Faculty of Cognitive Sciences and Human Development, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia (e-mail: gkartini@unimas.my).
Saratha Sathasivam is with School of Mathematical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia (e-mail: saratha@usm.my).
Cite: Farah Liyana Azizan, Nur Fazliana Rahim, Emmerline Shelda Siaw, Kartini Abd Ghani, and Saratha Sathasivam, "Innovative Classroom Strategy: Impact on Students’ Mathematics Motivation, Anxiety and Achievement in Pre-University Studies," International Journal of Information and Education Technology vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 165-170, 2022.
Copyright © 2022 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0).