Math anxiety and the Universal Design for Learning in practice

Abstract

Over the decades, school institutions have been marked by a large number of students who face difficulties in learning Mathematics. Such perceptions and behaviors lead us to discuss the phenomenon of anxiety, a factor that has a significant influence on students' relationships and performance. This study's main objective was to verify the anxiety levels of students in the 6th year of elementary school at a public school in the city of Poço Dantas, in the high backlands of Paraíba, in relation to the Mathematics curricular component. the. To this end, a pedagogical intervention was developed (Damiani et al., 2013) structured on the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) – version 3.0 (CAST, 2024), based on the application of the methodological and evaluative guidelines proposed by Fernandes et al. (2024), and a mathematical anxiety scale (MA) was applied to measure anxiety levels (Carmo, 2008). The results indicated a general reduction in AM levels in the classes analyzed, exposing methodological and evaluative guidelines as a promising repertoire in the construction of inclusive and effective pedagogical practices, in addition, confirming UDL as a strategic approach for promoting a more equitable teaching, learning and assessment. It is concluded that the process of mitigating MA is continuous in the academic training of students and requires efforts from both teachers and school institutions to adopt innovative and inclusive pedagogical practices that favor the development of an effective and emotionally healthy learning relationship with Mathematics.