MATHEMATICS ANXIETY AND THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF THE FRESHMEN COLLEGE STUDENTS OF THE NAVAL STATE UNIVERSITY

The main objective of this study was to determine the relationship between the level of Mathematics anxiety and the academic performance of the students at the Naval State University. The data were gathered through the questionnaire from the 200 student-respondents. More than three-fourths or 82.5 percent of the students’ involved in the study aged between 16 and 18 years old. Almost one-half or 48.5 percent of the students was rated “Good” as school grades in Mathematics; 86 percent had favorable attitude towards Mathematics; 44 percent from the total number of students were from the College of Engineering (COE) and College of Arts and Sciences (CAS). The remaining 42 percent were from the College of Industrial Information and Communication Technology (CIICT) and College of Maritime Education (COME). More than one-half or 64.5 percent of the students have Average Anxiety. Highest Percentage of 18.5 percent from COE,17.5 percent from COME, 16 percent from CAS, and 12.5 percent from CIICT. Topping among the other Colleges was the College of Engineering (COE) when it comes to mathematics performance, 17 % of them were rated as “ Satisfactory”. Majority of the teachers ( 79.5 % ) were democratic in their approach in teaching Mathematics. None of the teachers from the CIICT department used autocratic approach. Other teachers from other Colleges used Democratic, sometimes autocratic or a combination of both.