Math dance and song: Means to reduce student mathematical anxiety and promote engagement

After the pandemic, students suffered mathematical anxiety and poor engagement in classroom activities caused by their learning gap. So, the teacher integrated math dance and song to reduce mathematical anxiety and promote engagement. The study determined the effectiveness of math dance and song in reducing student mathematical anxiety and promoting better engagement. A practical action research design with 100 grade 7 students participated to address the classroom-based problem. Hence, the survey questionnaire, interview guide questions, and journal writing prompts were used as data collection instruments validated by the experts in mathematics education. Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test and Rosenthal correlation coefficient were used to determine significant differences and practical significance before and after integrating math dance and song. The results show that math dance and song diminished student mathematical anxiety, making them active, energized, and motivated. However, students' engagement increased in behavioral, cognitive, emotional, and social aspects.