CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by Liberty University Digital Commons THE EFFECT OF EXPRESSIVE WRITING ON THE MATH ANXIETY SCORES OF MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS ENROLLED IN A PUBLIC SCHOOL IN EAST TEXAS By Angela D. Ruark Liberty University A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Education Liberty University 2018 2 THE EFFECT OF EXPRESSIVE WRITING ON THE MATH ANXIETY SCORES OF MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS ENROLLED IN A PUBLIC SCHOOL IN EAST TEXAS By Angela D. Ruark A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Education Liberty University, Lynchburg, VA 2018 APPROVED BY: Kurt Y. Michael, Ph.D., Committee Chair Philip R. Alsup, Ed.D., Committee Member 3 ABSTRACT Math anxiety is a serious concern for educators and students. Students who may otherwise be successful can find themselves incapacitated to think and perform to their abilities due to this issue. Math anxiety negatively affects academic performance and deters students from pursuing math-based careers. This is particularly true for female students. Effective interventions are needed to address these issues. Expressive writing is one such intervention that has shown promise in reducing math anxiety with older students. This study investigated the impact of expressive writing on the math anxiety levels of middle school students according to group and gender. An experimental, pretest-posttest, control group design with random assignment was used for a sample of 40 students from a public middle school in East Texas. The Modified Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale was administered as a pretest and posttest. Students were randomly placed into either the control or treatment group. Both groups completed journal entries each day. The treatment group also responded to a daily expressive writing prompt. The study was conducted over a two-week period. One-way ANCOVAs for data analysis found no significant differences according to group or gender. Results and their implications are discussed, and future research recommendations provided. Keywords: math anxiety, expressive writing, working memory, gender, adolescents 4 Dedication “I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart…” Psalms 9:1 This dissertation is dedicated to my husband, Bill, whose prayers, support, and encouragement made all of this possible. Thank you for never letting me say, “I can’t.” I am eternally grateful for you. I would also like to dedicate this work to my sons, Matthew, Paul, and Joshua, who understood the commitment involved and cheered me on the entire time. Finally, I would like to dedicate this work to my parents, Ron Baggett and Sandra Baggett- Dietrich, whose sacrifices early on helped make this a reality. 5 Acknowledgments Thank you to Dr. Alsup for serving on my committee and for all of your support and input during my dissertation. Thank you to Dr. Michael for serving as my committee chair, and for your guidance, encouragement, and feedback throughout my time as a student and during my dissertation. I am grateful to have had the chance to work with you both and I sincerely appreciate your dedication to helping me succeed. 6 Table of Contents ABSTRACT .....................................................................................................................................3 Dedication ........................................................................................................................................4 Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................................5 List of Tables ...................................................................................................................................9 List of Figures ................................................................................................................................10 List of Abbreviations .....................................................................................................................11 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................12 Overview ............................................................................................................................12 Background ........................................................................................................................12 Problem Statement .............................................................................................................23 Purpose Statement ..............................................................................................................27 Significance of the Study ...................................................................................................27 Research Questions ............................................................................................................29 Definitions ..........................................................................................................................29 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................31 Overview ............................................................................................................................31 Theoretical Framework ......................................................................................................31 Related Literature ...............................................................................................................44 Summary ............................................................................................................................61 CHAPTER THREE: METHODS ..................................................................................................62 Overview ............................................................................................................................62 Design ................................................................................................................................62 7 Research Questions ............................................................................................................63 Null Hypotheses .................................................................................................................63 Participants and Setting ......................................................................................................63 Instrumentation ..................................................................................................................66 Procedures ..........................................................................................................................70 Data Analysis .....................................................................................................................72 CHAPTER FOUR: FINDINGS .....................................................................................................74 Overview ............................................................................................................................74 Research Questions ............................................................................................................74 Null Hypotheses .................................................................................................................74 Descriptive Statistics ..........................................................................................................74 Results ................................................................................................................................76 Results for Null Hypotheses ..............................................................................................81 Summary ............................................................................................................................82 CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSIONS .............................................................................................83 Overview ............................................................................................................................83 Discussion ..........................................................................................................................83 Implications ........................................................................................................................88 Limitations .........................................................................................................................89 Recommendations for Future Research .............................................................................90 Summary ............................................................................................................................91 REFERENCES ..............................................................................................................................92 Appendix A: Survey with Demographics Questions and Instrument (Pretest and Posttest) .......119 8 Appendix B: Permission to Use the Instrument ...........................................................................120 Appendix C: IRB Approval .........................................................................................................121 Appendix D: Permission Requests ...............................................................................................122