Riyadh Radiusman, Dwi Juniati, Siti Khabibah
Although it is known that adults have anxiety about mathematics, it turns out that elementary school students also have anxiety about mathematics. This research is a descriptive-qualitative research that aims to describes the influence of mathematics anxiety on the performance of fifth grade elementary school students, especially mathematics performance in using strategies in solving fraction problems. The subjects of this study were two fifth-grade elementary school students with different levels of mathematical anxiety and had relatively the same mathematical abilities. Data collection was conducted through semi-structured interviews based on the results of students' work in solving fractional operation problems. The study results showed that students with low mathematics anxiety (LMA) used numerical operation strategies to solve fraction problems, namely by manipulating number expressions into equivalent fractions in fraction comparison problems and still using numerical operation strategies to help determine the area of land division in word problems. Meanwhile, LMA subjects used a strategy that did not change, namely using spatial reasoning due to limited ability in using numerical operations to determine the comparison of fractions and divide the area of land in word problems. This shows that math anxiety affects students' strategies for solving fraction problems. © 2025 Brno University of Technology. All rights reserved.
Mathematics Education, Universitas Negeri Surabaya, Indonesia
