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Abstract: The paper proposes a systematic review of game-based approaches to reduce Maths Anxiety (MA). Thirteen experimental studies carried out in children and young adults were included in the review. In all the studies analysed, the games used were designed for general learning, usually quiz-based or puzzle-based games. Although 8 out of 13 studies report a reduction of MA after the intervention, only in 6/13 studies this was significant versus a traditional learning control group. This could be explained partially by the absence of games explicitly designed to deal with MA. Just two studies explicitly considered anxiety-aware features in their intervention strategy, including working on the competition element and a real-time indicator of MA embedded in the game. Our review shows the need for targeted studies to understand the impact of specific game features on MA in order to support the design of anxiety-aware games. Potential features include the introduction of gender-aware game design to account for the prevalence of MA among girls and the investigation of more collaborative and interactive game-modes.
Keywords: Mathematics Anxiety; game-based learning; literature review
1. Introduction
Mathematics Anxiety (MA) is a clinical condition characterised by negative feelings associated with activities involving numbers and calculations (Caviola et al, 2017). Currently, the possible origins of MA fall into three categories: poor maths skills (Ma and Xu, 2004), genetic predispositions (Wang et al, 2014), or socio-environmental factors (Vukovic, Roberts and Green Wright, 2013), such as the influence of anxious parents, colleagues or/and teachers. Furthermore, female students tend to have higher anxiety levels than male students (Hunsley and Flessati 1988), demonstrating that interventions should consider gender-specific features.
Games have proved to increase students' positive attitudes towards maths (Ke and Building, 2006; Afari et al, 2013), making the subject less frightening and enhancing their self-confidence (Ku et al, 2014; Gil-Doménech and Berbegal-Mirabent, 2017). A recent survey (Benavides-Varela, 2020) has also shown how game-based interventions can positively increase the cognitive abilities of children suffering from maths learning disabilities. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that game-based intervention could also reduce MA levels. The present review aims to answer the following research questions:
* Are game-based interventions effective in reducing MA levels?
The next section presents the procedure adopted to collect research papers in the area,...