Instructor Perceptions of Students in Developmental Math Correlates with Student Math Anxiety and Interest in Math

Math anxiety is a strong predictor of failure in math and students in developmental math courses are more likely to experience math anxiety. The causes of math anxiety are vast but include the way in which students perceive their instructors and instructors perceive their students. We sought to examine whether these perceptions were related to math anxiety and math interest and if these relationships differed between students in developmental math courses and college level math courses. Data from N=103 college students and their math instructors were collected measuring math anxiety and interest and student and instructor perceptions of each other. Results showed that instructor perceptions was negatively related to math anxiety and math interest for studnets in developmental math courses. This suggests that efforts to reduce math anxiety among studnets in developmental math courses should not just be student focused but also instructor focused.