This post has been self-published on Youth Ki Awaaz by Nirant Kasliwal. Just like them, anyone can publish on Youth Ki Awaaz. Find out more
Here”s How You Can Deal With Math Anxiety: Because Mathematics Is No Rocket Science
More from Nirant Kasliwal
By Nirant Kasliwal:
Yesterday I met a 7-year-old girl. We’ll call her Radha. She studies in the 2nd standard and excels in reading, comprehension as well as science. Radha’s parents and teachers were always concerned about her poor performance in math and her reluctance to do her math homework. What intrigued us was a passing comment her mom made during the interview: Radha frequently complained of stomach-aches during school, landing her in the nurse’s office almost daily. The nurse could never find a reason for Radha’s pains and after a quick check-up would send a happy Radha back to class. What the teachers and nurse missed was that Radha’s pains were getting her out of the math class; nobody at the school considered Radha might be experiencing math anxiety.
Math anxiety or fear of Math, is anxiety about one’s ability to do mathematics independent of skill. It refers to feelings of tension and fear that interfere with solving mathematical problems in everyday life and in the school setting.
How do you recognise it? Math anxiety often leads to math avoidance – avoiding the practice that Math often demands. It is related to poor math performance in math tests and negative attitudes concerning Math. Dr. Vukovic summarises it, “Math anxiety involves physiological arousal (e.g., sweaty palms, racing heart), negative thoughts (e.g., “I am just not a math person.”), escape and/or avoidance behaviours (e.g., developing pains to get out of math class), and, when the individual cannot escape the situation, poor performance”. A study has also claimed that Fear of math makes your brain hurt. This is not unique to children or teenagers as adults are equally victimised
Math anxiety is often due to poor teaching and poor experiences in math. Many of the students struggling with math anxiety have demonstrated an over reliance on procedures in the same as opposed to actually understanding it. When one tries to memorize procedures, rules and routines without much understanding, the math is quickly forgotten and panic soon sets in. There is no such thing as a brain type that makes one person better than another at math. Please don’t accept any stereotypes about the subject. Be patient as it is time consuming, just the way learning to drive is. Some people may get it more quickly, but this does not mean you can’t get it.
You can always have fun with the subject by becoming aware of the fear and try to connect with the numbers instead of running away from them. And then sharing experiences and doing a lot of mental math on the go help in several ways. Mathematics after all, is no rocket science!
You must be logged in to comment.
Raj
No, some people are better suited to learning maths than others. Most parts of Maths are quite unnatural. Humans have evolved to interact with each other and with their environment. Apart from basic number theory, basic algebra and basic geometry, other branches of maths are not really needed to survive.
Advanced maths including calculus is exactly what rocket science is!
vishalbheeroo
I failed in Maths. However, I went on to earn a bachelor degree in Economics. I agree with the article since I suffered from Maths anxiety owing to very bad teachers. I agree it’s no rocket science, though,
Ridhi Murari
I am glad someone touched upon this topic, having faced math anxiety myself, I can empathize with all who do and it isn’t easy to overcome this debilitating fear but I honestly feel even if in the minutest ways, it needs to be faced. Math is unavoidable in the world we exist in, it will come to us in some form of the other, our bills, taxes, expenditure, so on and so forth. We will have to manage that despite all the help we get because at some point its unwise to trust people completely with finances and so maths needs its due importance in daily life.