Examining the academic studies on mathematics anxiety: A systematic review study

The aim of this research is to determine the general situation of the related literature and to reveal the trends of the studies in the literature from different aspects according to the spesific criteria by examining the postgraduate theses and articles published on mathematics anxiety in Turkey. For this purpose the compilation model, which is one of the qualitative research methods, was adopted. The data group of the research consists of postgraduate theses in the National Theses Centre database of the Higher Education Board and articles published in Dergipark. In this context, 99 postgraduate theses and 48 articles on mathematics anxiety between the years 2010-2022 were examined. Syudies were examined in terms of years of publication, distribution according to types, methods, distibution according to geographical regions, target audience and main purpose. As a result of the research, it was seen that the total of the studies published in the relevant field in the five years corresponds to more than half of all studies in 2010-2022. Among the types of academic studies on mathematics anxiety, master's theses are the most common. It was noticed that quantitative methods were frequently preferred among research methods, and qualitative and mixed methods were preferred at least. When the geographical regions where the researches are carried out are examined it has been determined that the number of study carried out in Southeastern Anatolia, Eastern Anatolia and Black Sea regions was not sufficient. It was cocluded that the studies were carried out mostly with secondary school students and least with parents. Considering the main objectives targeted in the studies carried out, it was concluded that there was a tendency to examine the reliationship between affective variables and mathematics anxiety themost and to determine the causes of mathematics anxiety the least. It was suggested that researhers who will work in the relevant field should show a tendency for subjects, research types, research methods, target groups and geographical regions that have not been studied sufficiently. In this context, it was expected that researches that will eliminate the deficiencies in the related field rather than the repition of the studies that reach the saturation point.