Anthony Pius Effiom, Eme Orok Iban Amanso, Catherine Boniface Ekarika, Mayen Ndaro Igajah & Margaret Sylvanus Umoh
Abstract
The study examines the tendency of phobia among senior secondary school students towards mathematics and its implication for sustainable development in science education in Nigeria. The study used a survey design utilizing stratified sampling technique to select 180 Senior Secondary two students from the three Education zones in Cross River State. A fifteen-item questionnaire titled Mathematics Phobia and Sustainable Development (MPSD) which provided indications of how intensely students felt about Mathematics along a four point attitude scale was designed for data collection. An achievement test consisting of twenty items was used to measure the general achievement and sex differences of students with mathematics phobia. Cronbach Alpha was utilized to establish a reliability coefficient of .76, and independent t-test was used in analysing the data collected through the achievement test. The study revealed, among others, that mathematics phobia exists among students. It was recommended, among others, that secondary schools in the state should employ qualified and resourceful mathematics teachers and establish mathematics laboratories and ICT facilities where students will engage in practical mathematics learning so that the abstract nature of the subject may be mitigated to arouse interests and hence demystify the phobia among the students.