Unmotivated, Depressed, Anxious: Impact of the COVID-19 Emergency Transition to Remote Learning on Undergraduates’ Math Anxiety

In summer 2020, we invited the 6761 undergraduate students who took a Spring 2020 math course at the University of Arizona to participate in a survey, with 13% responding. We asked about their experience with the emergency transition to remote learning and measured their math anxiety before and after the transition using the well-established Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale(AMAS). “Unmotivated, depressed, anxious” are the words one undergraduate used to describe their emergency transition to remote learning. Our results indicate that limited access to quality technology and inadequate communication with an instructor were the two greatest predictors for an increase in math anxiety after the emergency transition to remote learning. These results may encourage instructors to foster community with their students, especially during emergency remote learning.