Public Examinations And Their Effect

In Malaysia, the Education System is highly examination-oriented. Many students perceive that getting good grades will indicate their achievements. There is a perception that getting an A for mathematics in public examination reflect that the person has better IQ. Good achievement in Mathematics has also been the basic requirement for the student to further their studies. In this way, students felt threatened by mathematics examination.

            Morris (1981) stated that mathematics tends to lend itself to being taught with procedures that unnecessarily build tension and pressure in some students. She further argue that for example, in a timed test, many especially the anxious, tend to freeze up under time pressure.

            A study by Betz (1978) revealed that the level of mathematics anxiety reported was related to scores on a standardized mathematics achievement test.  In other words people with high achievement scores tended to report low mathematics anxiety and vice versa.  The trainees here seemed to confirm that high anxiety about mathematics was predictably liked with poor results in public examinations.