Math HelpOvercoming Math Anxiety
Experience with math anxiety is something that is familiar to many of us. However, for some people, math anxiety can be a severe problem that interferes with their ability to learn and enjoy math. Unaddressed, math anxiety can literally turn some people off of math, causing them to believe that they ‘can’t do math’ and even going so far as to cause them to shy away from otherwise viable career choices because a particular job ‘involves math’.
Just Because ‘It’s In Your Head’ Doesn’t Mean It Isn’t Real…
The effects of math anxiety are quite real. Recent studies have shown that math anxiety has an actual effect on the brain’s functions that negatively impacts the ability to complete math tasks. This is not surprising as most of us intuitively know that when you are feeling afraid or intensely nervous or frustrated you tend to have a hard time concentrating.
Sources of Math Anxiety
Memorization without Understanding – Somewhere along the line, many of us had a negative experience with math that may have been reinforced by social conditioning. Traditionally in North America, math had been taught as a series of formulas to remember, with only a passing nod to the underlying logic behind them.
For many of us, this lack of focus on ‘why’ certain formulas worked was highly problematic. Sure you may have remembered the formula, but what about when the problem appears in an unfamiliar context or situation? In these cases, without a proper understanding of why and how a formula works, you may find it very difficult or even impossible to recognize that this is a situation in which a specific formula is appropriate. And without an understanding of why something works, memorizing and applying formulas even in situations where we recognize that a formula can be used become trickier and more prone to errors.
Sexism – Sadly, up until even very recently, many young women have not been given the same confidence building reinforcement about their ability to successfully do math that young men have been receiving. Parents, teachers and counselors have tended to stress the importance of math competence to young men while failing to stress the importance of math competence to young women. While this has definitely changed for the better in recent years, its lingering effects are still being felt.
Steps to Overcome Math Anxiety
Begin by recognizing that you have it. Denial of its presence is quite common as many people feel shame over being anxious. But you can’t overcome something that you don’t acknowledge, so talk to a friend or fellow student about it. Ask yourself when you first started feeling this way. Consider what ‘math situations’ bring on feelings of anxiety
Stop the negative self-talk. Part of math anxiety is the self reinforcement of failure by assuming that you will fail and failing to try as a result.
Treat math like a new language. Fluency requires practice and repetition. Spend some time getting comfortable with new math ideas. Practice math regularly.
Understand new ideas – Don’t simply memorize the steps. Try to understand how and why a math idea works.
Ask lots of questions, especially ‘why’ questions. Some teachers may not always know the ‘why’ of a particular math idea, but don’t let that dissuade you. Talk with other students and ask other teachers.
Pay attention to those math examples in your text. They are there because they display the key ideas without other extraneous factors to confuse things. Play with them. Work through them.
Find other people who are interested in math and talk with them about the ideas you are learning. Having to place ideas into words or explain a concept to someone is a great way to build your understanding.
If you don’t understand an idea or concept then don’t wait to get help. The longer you wait, the fuzzier things are going to get. Ask your teacher or a friend for help on the same day you run into a problem that you don’t get.
Focus on what you can do. Often, by starting with what you know the answers to what you don’t know will begin to jump out at you.
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