Anxiety, Expectations, Mathematical Competencies and Physics Problem Solving of Pre-service teachers’ Using Multi-dimensional Approach

This quantitative study that made use of the descriptive correlational design investigated the relationship of mathematics anxiety, mathematics expectations, mathematics competencies, and understanding of physics problem solving using multi-dimensional approach among pre-service science teachers of teacher education institutions in Iloilo City. The subjects of the study were the 79 pre-service teachers’ who were enrolled in the first semester of SY 2014–2015 at teacher education institutions in Iloilo city and had taken biophysics or general physics as prescribed by the course curriculum. The study utilized four sets of instruments, namely: Mathematics Competency Test (MCT), Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale (MARS), Mathematics Expectation Rating Scale (MERS), and Force, Motion, and Energy Problem-Solving Test (FMEPST).Results revealed that the pre-service teachers had both moderately low mathematics anxiety and mathematics expectations. The level of mathematical competencies of pre-service teachers as a whole group was average; they also had average level of competencies in numbers and number sense, measurement, patterns and algebra, geometry, and statistics and probability, and moderately low level of competency in trigonometry. Their understanding of physics problem solving using multi-dimensional approach was average. However, in terms of physical representations, they had moderately low level of understanding physics problem solving and average level of mathematical representations. Significant relationships existed between pre-service teachers’ mathematics competencies and understanding of physics problem solving using multi-dimensional approach. Mathematics anxiety and mathematics expectations were not significantly related to understanding of physics problem solving using multi-dimensional approach. Moreover, the significant relationships between mathematics competencies and physics problem solving using multi-dimensional approach implied that students with mastery in mathematics competencies scored higher in physics problem solving. On the other hand, mathematics anxiety and mathematics expectations had no bearing on students’ understanding of physics problem solving.