Article
MATHEMATICAL ANXIETY, SPATIAL ABILITY AND MATHEMATICAL ACHIEVEMENT: CROSS-CULTURAL STUDY OF PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN IN RUSSIA AND UK
M. Rudenko1, M. Rodic1, E. Cooper1, T.V. Kolienko2, K.R. Sharafieva2, E.I. Gynku2, K.K. Akimova2, O.E. Bogdanova2, X. Zhou3, Y. Kovas1, 2
1 Goldsmiths, University of London, London, United Kingdom; 2 National Research Tomsk State University, Tomsk, Russia; 3 Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
The results of the study show that early mathematical and spatial abilities and the level of mathematical anxiety are very similar in Russian and British schoolchildren, despite differences in curriculum and earlier school entering for British school children. We found no differences in mathematical anxiety in mean values or variations between the Russian and British samples. We also did not find sex differences in the subtraction task, mental rotation task and mathematical anxiety. The results are consistent with a hypothesis that at this age girls are less affected by the stereotype of male superiority in mathematics. Levene’s test revealed variance differences: the Russian sample had overall wider ranges of scores than the British, especially among girls.
Keywords: mathematical anxiety, mathematical achievement, spatial ability, primary school age, cross-cultural study.