Impact of mathematics anxiety on undergraduate mathematics students in a gulf country

Mathematics anxiety has been established to negatively influence students’ learning experiences in Mathematics. There is, however, no data available on this condition in undergraduate students in any of the Gulf countries in the region. This study therefore seeks to bridge the knowledge gap about how Mathematics anxiety influences learners in undergraduate Mathematics programmed in a GCC country. Researchers constructed a measurement scale comprising two sections: where the first section addresses Mathematics anxiety among undergraduate leaners in the course of studying mathematics and the second section relates to the levels of anxiety exhibited by learners when taking assessments. The scale was modified from the original Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale (MARS) model. The data obtained was analysed using descriptive statistics and one-sample t-test at 95% level of confidence. The results suggest that most learners exhibit high to extreme levels of anxiety while taking Mathematics assessments, whereas they showed moderate to low levels of Mathematics anxiety while studying Mathematics, although some of the learners did exhibit extreme anxiety levels while studying the subject.