STUDENTS' PERCEPTION ON THE CAUSES AND EFFECT OF MATHEMATICS ANXIETY AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN AKOKO SOUTH-WEST LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF ONDO STTE, NIGERIA.

This research was carried out among secondary school students in Akoko south west local government area of Ondo state, to check out the perception of students on the causes and effects of mathematics anxiety among secondary school students in Akoko south west local government area of Ondo state, Nigeria. The essence of this study is to determine the perception of secondary schools students on the causes of mathematics anxiety in senior secondary school. Results from the findings have shown that the students both male and female students have positive perception on the causes and effects of mathematics anxiety among secondary 65 school students in Akoko south west local government area of Ondo state. This research makes us know factors that cause mathematics anxiety among secondary school students, these factors were categorized into four factors that included societal factors, school factors, teachers’ factors and the students’ factors. The society play a role in causing mathematics anxiety to students in the sense that they believed that mathematics is a difficult subject, the high requirement of mathematics in all level of education and they believes that mathematics is for the brilliant students. They also believed that there is no much career opportunity available for anyone that studies mathematics and most of all, they believed that mathematics is abstract as such it create mathematics anxiety to students. The school contribute to the causing of mathematics anxiety among students in that there is no conducive learning environment, absence of mathematics laboratories that students can go in to see real aspect of the mathematics, there are inadequate reading materials for these students to consult on their own, some classes are overcrowded and the time usually allocated to mathematics lesson in a day causes anxiety to the students. Teachers also cause mathematics anxiety to students due to inability to breakdown concept into simple and understandable units, poor teacher-students relationships, some teachers are harsh and/or strict to their students, nonuse of instructional materials while teaching and the level of teachers’ confidence to solve mathematical problems all causes mathematics anxiety to the students. The students on their own were not left out as one of the causative factor that causes mathematics anxiety for them. The finding found out that students have negative attitude toward mathematics, their parents’ high demand on their mathematics performance, students’ poor mathematics background, career choices of students and the students’ inability to solve mathematical problems causes mathematics anxiety among them.