The Influence of Gen‐AI Assisted Learning on Primary School Students' Math Anxiety: An Intervention Study

ABSTRACT Math anxiety refers to the emotions of fear, worry, and avoidance that students experience while learning math or participating in math‐related activities. How to effectively alleviate students' math anxiety has always been a concern for global education researchers. Generative artificial intelligence (Gen‐AI) is a specialized branch of artificial intelligence that focuses on creating new content based on individual needs, such as text, images, audio, and video. This study firstly attempted to integrate Gen‐AI assisted learning approach into primary school math classes and explored the influence of this approach on primary school students' math anxiety. This study adopted a mixed quasi‐experimental design and was conducted among sixth‐grade students from a public primary school in central China. By comparing pre—and post‐tests, it was found that the Gen‐AI‐assisted learning approach could effectively reduce primary school students' math anxiety. The results of semi‐structured interviews showed that Gen‐AI assisted learning approach could reduce primary school students' math anxiety by enhancing their interest in learning, increasing their math self‐efficacy and academic engagement, as well as providing personalized learning support and timely feedback.