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Interview series
10 Minutes with...
Short conversations in which researchers translate decades of work into implications for practice, and reveal where the field is heading. Every guest answers a common set of questions, then four to five specialist questions tied to their expertise.
- What is one misconception educators have about mathematics anxiety?
- What is one finding from your research that every teacher should know?
- What is something researchers still don't understand well about mathematics anxiety?
- If a teacher wanted to make one change tomorrow, what would you recommend?
- What gives you optimism about this field?
If you had five minutes with every mathematics teacher in the world, what would you want them to know about mathematics anxiety?
Answers are gathered into a closing resource, What every mathematics teacher should know about mathematics anxiety.
The guests
Twelve conversations
Dr Jo Van Hoof
Fractions, rational numbers, conceptual understanding, and the cognitive obstacles and emotional responses that accompany them.
Specialist questions
- Why do fractions generate so much anxiety compared with other mathematical topics?
- Are students anxious because fractions are difficult, or do fractions become difficult because students are anxious?
- What are the most common misconceptions students have about fractions?
- How can teachers identify when a student's apparent anxiety is actually conceptual confusion?
- What classroom approaches help students build confidence while developing deep fraction understanding?
- Are there particular fraction representations that seem to reduce anxiety?
- What should primary teachers focus on before students reach secondary school?
Practitioner takeaway
Understanding often precedes confidence. Students frequently become anxious because they are trying to build new ideas on fragile foundations.
A/Prof Kinga Morsanyi
Dyscalculia, individual differences, and the overlap between learning difficulties and anxiety.
Specialist questions
- What is the relationship between dyscalculia and mathematics anxiety?
- How can teachers distinguish between anxiety and genuine mathematical learning difficulties?
- Can mathematics anxiety lead teachers to overestimate learning difficulties?
- What signs should prompt a referral for further assessment?
- How should support differ for students with dyscalculia versus students experiencing anxiety?
- What misconceptions about dyscalculia do you encounter most often?
- What does effective classroom support look like?
Practitioner takeaway
Not all struggling students are anxious, and not all anxious students have learning difficulties.
Dr Rebecca Marrone
Gender, stereotypes, identity, and mathematics anxiety.
Specialist questions
- What does the evidence actually tell us about gender differences in mathematics anxiety?
- Why do girls often report higher levels of mathematics anxiety even when achievement is similar?
- What role do stereotypes play?
- How can teachers unintentionally reinforce anxiety-related stereotypes?
- Are there particular classroom practices that appear especially beneficial for girls?
- What should school leaders know about creating equitable mathematics cultures?
- Where is the field moving beyond simple male-female comparisons?
Practitioner takeaway
Students' beliefs about who belongs in mathematics matter as much as what happens during lessons.
A/Prof Krzysztof Cipora
Numerical cognition, the measurement of mathematics anxiety, and developmental pathways.
Specialist questions
- What have we learned about how mathematics anxiety develops over time?
- When do we first see meaningful signs of mathematics anxiety?
- How good are we at measuring mathematics anxiety?
- What are the biggest challenges in interpreting mathematics anxiety data?
- Which findings about mathematics anxiety are most robust across countries?
- What do we still need to understand about causal mechanisms?
- If you could launch one major international study, what would it investigate?
Practitioner takeaway
Mathematics anxiety is not a single phenomenon and can emerge through multiple pathways.
Prof Dénes Szűcs
Cognitive mechanisms, working memory, and neuroscience.
Specialist questions
- What happens cognitively when students experience mathematics anxiety?
- What role does working memory play?
- Is mathematics anxiety fundamentally different from other forms of anxiety?
- What have neuroscience studies contributed to our understanding?
- Are there common misconceptions about brain-based explanations of mathematics anxiety?
- How should teachers think about cognitive load and anxiety together?
- What practical implications emerge from this work?
Practitioner takeaway
Anxiety consumes cognitive resources that students need for mathematical thinking.
Dr Sarah Buckley
Trait anxiety versus state anxiety.
Specialist questions
- What is the difference between trait and state mathematics anxiety?
- Why is this distinction important for educators?
- Can a student appear confident most of the time but experience intense state anxiety?
- What classroom situations tend to trigger state anxiety?
- Should schools focus more on changing the environment or changing students' responses?
- How should teachers interpret anxiety survey data?
- What are the implications for intervention design?
Practitioner takeaway
Some students are anxious all the time. Others become anxious only in particular situations.
A/Prof Sara Caviola
Interventions, mechanisms of change, and reducing mathematics anxiety.
Specialist questions
- Which interventions currently have the strongest evidence?
- Which popular approaches lack evidence?
- What are the biggest mistakes schools make when trying to address mathematics anxiety?
- How important is teacher behaviour relative to student-focused interventions?
- What intervention findings have surprised you most?
- What does sustainable change look like?
- What should researchers prioritise next?
Practitioner takeaway
The goal is not to eliminate anxiety completely but to prevent it from interfering with learning.
A/Prof Thomas Hunt
Mathematics resilience, learner identities, persistence in the face of challenge, and cross-cultural differences in students' emotional experiences of mathematics.
Specialist questions
- What is mathematics resilience, and how does it differ from mathematics anxiety?
- Can students experience mathematics anxiety and still demonstrate resilience?
- What characteristics distinguish resilient mathematics learners?
- What role do teachers play in developing students' mathematics resilience?
- How can teachers help students persist when they encounter difficulty or failure?
- What classroom practices appear to support the development of mathematical resilience?
- How much of mathematics anxiety and resilience is shaped by culture, educational systems, and societal expectations?
- What does a resilient mathematics classroom look like in practice?
Practitioner takeaway
Reducing anxiety is only part of the challenge. Equally important is helping students build the confidence, strategies, and persistence to keep learning after setbacks. Cross-cultural evidence suggests resilience is shaped by the messages, expectations, and environments schools create.
Dr Flavia Santos
Games, engagement, playful learning, and mathematics anxiety.
Specialist questions
- Why might games help reduce mathematics anxiety?
- What features make a game effective rather than merely entertaining?
- Can games support conceptual understanding as well as confidence?
- What mistakes do educators make when using games?
- Which students appear to benefit most?
- How can teachers use games to increase engagement without distracting from mathematical learning?
- What does the evidence currently tell us?
Practitioner takeaway
Games work best when they support meaningful mathematical thinking rather than distraction.
Dr Sam Fowler
Self-regulated learning and mathematics anxiety.
Specialist questions
- What is the relationship between self-regulated learning and mathematics anxiety?
- How do anxious students regulate their learning differently?
- Which self-regulated learning strategies seem most protective?
- How can teachers support students before, during, and after challenging mathematical tasks?
- What role does self-efficacy play?
- Can self-regulated learning interventions reduce anxiety indirectly?
- What practical routines can teachers implement immediately?
Practitioner takeaway
Students need strategies not only for solving problems but also for managing the emotions that accompany them.
Prof Reinhard Pekrun
Control-Value Theory and achievement emotions.
Specialist questions
- What is Control-Value Theory, and how does it help explain mathematics anxiety?
- What do control and value mean in everyday classroom terms?
- Why do some students become anxious while others become bored or frustrated?
- What can teachers do to increase perceptions of control, and foster positive emotions without lowering expectations?
- What role does feedback play in shaping students' achievement emotions?
- Which directions in achievement emotions research are most exciting?
Practitioner takeaway
Students are more likely to experience anxiety when they value success but doubt their ability to achieve it.
Dr Debbie Devis
Design-based research, improvement science, and practitioner inquiry.
Specialist questions
- Why is design-based research useful for studying mathematics anxiety?
- How can schools investigate mathematics anxiety within their own context?
- What kinds of data should teachers collect?
- How can educators balance rigour with practicality?
- What are examples of small-scale improvement cycles schools could run?
- How can teacher inquiry contribute to the broader evidence base?
- What advice would you give schools wanting to become research-engaged?
Practitioner takeaway
Schools do not have to wait for perfect evidence. They can systematically learn from their own practice.
Episodes are released progressively. Each set of specialist questions is the interview brief shared with the guest.