Abstract:

This correlational study aims to determine the mathematics teaching anxiety levels and mathematical development beliefs of prospective preschool teachers, and to find out the relationship between these two concepts. Data were collected through the usage of 'Mathematics Teaching Anxiety Scale for Classroom Teachers' and 'Mathematical Development Belief Scale' from 200 prospective preschool teachers. The results show that prospective teachers’ mathematics teaching anxiety and mathematical development beliefs were found to be moderate level. It is seen that there was no significant relationship between the overall mathematical development beliefs and the mathematics teaching anxiety scales of the prospective preschool teachers. However, there were significant correlations between the sub-scale. Considering the relationships based on the sub-scale, it is possible to conclude that the high mathematical development beliefs of prospective preschool teachers may make them more anxious about mathematics teaching. This can lead to the interpretation that increased beliefs of students about mathematics escalate their anxiety about 'achieving better'. Based on the results obtained in the current study, it can be recommend that content and applications that will increase the knowledge and experience of prospective teachers regarding their field knowledge of mathematics can be developed to move the levels of their mathematical development beliefs to a high position and also to prevent these high levels from having a very high effect on their anxiety levels.

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