Problem solving workshop for the prevention of mathematical anxiety of prospective preschool teachers

Abstract

Prospective preschool teachers often present serious affective problems towards mathematics and specifically toward problem solving. Before this panorama is necessary to take measures, but to do it in the first place it is necessary to know the concrete characteristics of the group with which it is going to work. Under this premise, we have performed a quantitative analysis of the math anxiety presented by 210 second-year students of the Degree in Early Childhood Education at the University of Alicante. The results of this analysis show that these students have math anxiety and that this occurs at very high levels in some cases, especially in problem solving process. Based on these data, we have designed a workshop that aims to make students aware of their anxiety responses and offer them tools to manage them, working from the mathematical problem solving.