Does Math Stress You Out?
An article published on the website www.sciencenewsforstudents.org contends that there is research that shows students how to overcome math anxiety. Click here to read the article and post your comments on these two questions:
(1) Have you or someone you know ever experienced math anxiety? Describe.
(2) Do you believe the suggestions in the article would help a student struggling
with math anxiety?
with math anxiety?
I've had math anxiety pretty much all my life. I don’t think it's any different than any other kind of anxiety, really. For me, I usually feel anxiety about stuff I'm not familiar with. When starting my undergraduate degree in math, I was nervous and anxious because I didn’t have much experience in math past algebra and geometry just a little bit of analysis 30 years earlier in high school – but it certainly wasn’t paralyzing. I had felt a similar level of anxiety when I went to Leadership Training while I was in the military and found out on the first day of classes that I had been made class president. Just like the math, it wasn’t that bad once it started. It was mostly making sure everyone was where they were supposed to be and giving a speech at the graduation dinner. For math it was just learning the different algorithms and applying them as needed.
ReplyDeleteI guess I did one of the things the article suggested, I set aside my anxiety and just got on with the math, or whatever it was I was anxious about. By the time I was done, I was no longer anxious, because it was over, or I knew what to do.
I like the idea of the bedtime math app. It sounds like makes math into something fun and entertaining instead of a dreaded chore that no one wants to do.
I've never had math anxiety, but I know many people who have. My wife is probably the easiest example to think of, as she's always had a fear of math and a general feeling that she wasn't good at math. While she performed poorly compared to her other subjects in school, she does couponing, baking, and runs the books for her office. Obviously, she can think mathematically.
ReplyDeleteThe thing I really like from the article was the idea of writing through or talking through the anxiety before the test. I think math anxiety is likely closely related to general test anxiety that many people have. If you can find a way for people to channel their anxiety, then they can perform to their actual abilities.
My wife doesn't have math anxiety, she just blows it off and doesn't deal with it. As soon as I start trying to talk about one of my math classes, she just stops listening and lets me know that she doesn't do the whole math thing.
DeleteBoth of my daughters have math anxiety... I guess it doesn't help that both me and my husband are mathematicians who are naturals with math.I agree, Dru, that math anxiety seems to be closely related to general test anxiety. Channeling that anxiety in such a way that leads to a feeling of control and a state of relaxation would seem to be productive in both types of anxiety.
DeleteFor much of my life I have had some degree of math anxiety. I generally tell people if God had intended for me to do math, he wouldn't have allowed someone else to create computers and calculators. I consider myself a very tactile person, and while I can understand basic concepts dealing with math, I need to relate them to something concrete in order for it to make sense. Math for the simple fact of doing math is NOT my thing. I can do calculations when they deal with Chemistry, or something science or cooking related, because I have a tangible, right there type result.
ReplyDeleteI wish that things like Bedtime Math had existed when I was little, or even when my kids were little. It might have made a difference in the way that we looked at math. I know on some levels that I -can- math, but I "don't math well" so I try not to, if I can help it.
I can totally relate to your needing to have concrete references to learn math. Most students in the average classroom are concrete, not abstract thinkers, and they, too, learn math best when it is presented in a real-life context. I think the Bedtime Math app would go a very long way in instilling math confidence in kids. I wish every parent would use it with their children!
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