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Mathematics anxiety hinders students' mathematical achievement already in primary school, but research on its effects beyond whole number knowledge is limited. The main aim of the current study is to examine how state and trait mathematics anxiety relate to performance across five tasks that are relevant for the development of mathematics in primary school, including a measure of adaptive expertise with school mathematics. These include mathematical tasks with non-symbolic quantities, whole numbers, and rational numbers. The participants were 406 primary school students attending the 5th grade (N = 188) and 6th grade (N = 218). Our results showed that state anxiety varies across task type. Furthermore, students' self-evaluated state and trait mathematics anxiety had varying negative relations with performance depending on the task type. In particular, we found that mathematics anxiety may limit students' adaptive expertise with rational numbers, even after controlling for other relevant mathematical skills. Overall, our results indicate that existing accounts on the role mathematics anxiety plays in school mathematics should expand to consider differences across task type and measures of anxiety.

Learning fractions poses a challenge for many elementary school students, including applying fraction knowledge in novel contexts. For instance, there are substantial individual differences in students’ tendency of spontaneous focusing on quantitative relations (SFOR), which is related to the development of rational number knowledge. In this study, 4th grade students (N = 129) took part in a quasi-experimental study comparing an intervention condition (n = 71) aimed at improving students’ multiplicative relational reasoning and fraction knowledge with a control condition (n = 58) of business as usual fraction instruction. Five lessons of intervention activities were designed to promote students ability to recognize and describe multiplicative relations in their everyday surroundings. There was an overall positive effect on the students’ mathematical knowledge. Students who participated in the intervention improved their ability to recognize and describe multiplicative relations embedded in pictures representing everyday situations. There were no significant differences in the development of fraction knowledge despite replacing five traditional fraction lessons. These findings provide further evidence that researchers and educators should continue to pay attention to issues surrounding students’ spontaneous mathematical focusing tendencies.

While game-based learning seems to be an effective instructional approach, the underlying learning and engagement mechanisms of games are still poorly understood. In the current study, we investigated to what extent flow experience and situational interest are different indicators of engagement in game-based learning. Fifty-two Finnish 5th graders played a game on fractions at home during COVID-19 enforced distance learning. Flow and situational interest measures were embedded directly into the game environment. Results revealed that although flow experience and situational interest constructs share similar components, they also differ. In particular, regression analysis indicated that situational interest is mostly related to immersive aspects of flow. Moreover, learning gains achieved by playing the game and situational interest were positively related – a relation not found with flow. Although flow was not related to learning gains, it seems to be a more competence-oriented construct than situational interest as it was positively correlated with in-game performance. The design of the game successfully supported weaker students with adaptive scaffolds and in-game self-reporting measures worked well. Taken together, even though situational interest and flow share similar components, both constructs are important for multifaceted assessment of engagement in game-based learning. Theoretical and practical implications for engagement research and game design are discussed.

Adaptive expertise is a highly sought after, but difficult to achieve, outcome of mathematics education. Many teaching methods appear to support the development of adaptive expertise only in a small proportion of students. Game-based learning environments may be useful for supporting adaptive expertise. Therefore, we carried out a quasi-experimental classroom intervention to examine the possibility of using a game-based learning environment to promote adaptive rational number knowledge, a potential indicator of adaptive expertise in the domain of rational numbers. The Number Line Elaboration and Exploration learning environment relied on the increasing elaboration of the number line analogy as a means for students to explore connections between multiple aspects of rational number knowledge. Our results show the game-based learning environment was successful in promoting adaptive rational number knowledge. These results provide directions for the development and examination of how learning environments may be able to support adaptive expertise.

Background: Research has shown that mathematics anxiety negatively correlates with primary school mathematics performance, including fraction knowledge. However, recently no significant correlation was found between fraction arithmetic performance and state anxiety measured after the fraction task. One possible explanation is the natural number bias (NNB), a tendency to apply natural number reasoning in fraction tasks, even when this is inappropriate. Students with the NNB may not realize they are answering incorrectly. Aims: The aim is to examine whether a misconception, namely the NNB, can influence students' fraction state anxiety. Sample: The participants were 119 fifth- and sixth-grade students categorized as belonging to an NNB group (n = 60) or a No-NNB group (n = 59), according to their NNB-related answering profile on a fraction arithmetic task. Methods: Group differences were examined for state anxiety and performance on a fraction and a whole number arithmetic task and self-reported trait mathematics anxiety. Results: The NNB group reported lower fraction state anxiety than the No-NNB group, but there was no significant difference in trait mathematics anxiety. Furthermore, the NNB group reported lower fraction state anxiety than whole number state anxiety, while the opposite was true for the No-NNB group. Conclusion: The present study suggests that students' perceptions of their own performance influence their state anxiety responses, and students with a NNB may not be aware of their misconception and poor performance. Not taking into account qualitative differences in low performance, such as misconceptions, may lead to misinterpretations in state anxiety-performance relations.