Math phobia is a real thing.
I know because for most of my elementary and high school years, I hated
math. I was anxious about math class. I
struggled with concepts and often felt stupid.
I could hardly wait until I could be done with math and take courses
that I enjoyed like science. I loved science. Chemistry, biology, physics… it
didn’t matter. However, in Grade 11, my
love of science and phobia of math collided.
It became apparent that I wouldn’t be able to progress in subjects like
chemistry and physics without a better foundation in math. Fortunately, with the right motivation and
considerable support from some great teachers, I was able to improve my math
skills and become much more comfortable.
Given my past love/hate relationship with math, I have a
keen interest in preventing math phobia.
In scouring the net, I came up with a few good resources that I have
found helpful and wanted to share.
This math goodies blog has some great information about easy
ways that teachers can help prevent math phobia. http://www.mathgoodies.com/articles/math_anxiety.html
Another great resource is this article on math phobia which describes
the causes of math fear and identifies some strategies for overcoming these
fears. http://targetstudy.com/articles/the-fear-of-mathematics.html
Last but not least, here is a great article about math
anxiety specifically in girls. Today, women hold only 27 percent of
all computer science jobs (Forbes.com, 2014).
Given that tremendous underrepresentation, its critical to ensure that
all students but particulary female students are encouraged to study supported
to be successful in mathematics.
I hope some of this is helpful.
Kelly
Thanks for the links - and especially about girls in math. I think teacher attitude goes a long way in stemming fears about math. I'm sure we've all heard of a teacher whose answer to "what's the point?" is 'because you have a test'. It is up to us to make sure students see the connections and value of learning math. That end-goal motivation can go a long way in fighting the fear.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that there is definitely a math phobia when it comes to some students and it makes me really sad that girls are under represented when it comes to certain math jobs. i know that I love math and this was always one of my easiest subject and I did notice this year that when it came to grade 8 girls especially, they did very well and even better than the boys. What i found was that the girls at this age were simply more mature than the boys and applied themselves a little better. Not sure if this is a fact for this age but it is something that I observed in my classes this year.
ReplyDeleteVery informative post. Thank u so much for sharing with us.
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It's understandable that you had a difficult time with math. Many people struggle to understand concepts
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