De-Stressing the Stress From Math
Arithmetic is a core rudiment of academia and spells academic and vocational success for many. Even those who do not need skill in arithmetic to progress with their career do need high grades in arithmetic to succeed in school. Unfortunately, for many, these high grades are almost unobtainable by the debilitating presence of math anxiety. Math anxiety is, in fact, so common that there is even a special word for it: Mathematics-Learning Distress (MALEI, 2006). About 85% of students studied in Perry (2004) in introductory math classes claimed to experience at least mild math anxiety. This experience seems to have a history that goes back to the earliest of formative child education since Jackson and Leffingwell (1999) found that only 7% of their 157 students actually had pleasant experiences related to math from their beginning the subject. Meanwhile, 27% of the respondents accumulated math anxiety during their freshman college years, with dropout from math courses -- even remediation ones -- being as high as 25% per semester, with only one or two students actually completing the remediation (McCabe, 2003). Math anxiety is prevalent on and off college campuses, but to some the deficiency is so adversely impacting that they have compared it to losing a limb ("Mathophobia may be compared with the loss of one of the primary senses" (Hilton, 1980, p. 175). Yet dealing with and understanding math anxiety is important for instructors and parents in order to help their child succeed in the challenging subject. It is important for the student and individual self-learner, too. This is where this essay steps in tracing math anxiety to its root, advocating that math anxiety is debilitating and presenting strategies for dealing with it.
Origin of Math Anxiety
The interesting thing is that math anxiety could actually be neurologically related. Two years ago, researchers (Young et al., 2011) in Stanford University conducted neuroimages of 46 2nd and 3rd graders who had low and high mathematical anxiety and discovered exaggerated motion in the neural region of those who felt anxiety whilst...
Math Anxiety I did not realize before that I had any feelings of anxiety related to the subject of mathematics. Math is not the most difficult subject although certainly it can be challenging. Yet, my writing indicates that I do feel math-related anxiety which therefore need to be better understood. From early on, I knew that math was not my favorite subject. For many people math is difficult, primarily because it
As always, understanding is always the building block of finding a lasting solution to a problem, and this anxiety has not always been at the forefront of teachers' minds, but raising awareness could also help in beginning to solve the problem. Works Cited: Borhod et. al. (2012). "Math Anxiety." Anoka Ramsey Community College Working Paper. Retrieved, < http://webs.anokaramsey.edu/math/pdf/MathAnxiety.pdf>. Curtain-Phillips, M. (2012). "Causes and Prevention of Math Anxiety." Math Goodies. Retrieved, < http://www.mathgoodies.com/articles/math_anxiety.html>. No
Math AnxietyMost students have a challenge learning Math, and this depends on the strategies that the teacher uses. Assessment is joint in teaching the subject (Kostos & Shin, 2010). It refers to the settings and tasks that give the students opportunities to demonstrate the skills, understanding, and application of content within a context allowing for continued growth and learning.Several types of assessments are used to evaluate the development and student
Although many people state that they have math anxiety, quantifying the extent to which this can inhibit learning has proven challenging. In an attempt to do so, Shi & Liu (2016)’s study “Worrying Thoughts Limit Working Memory Capacity in Math Anxiety” hypothesized that individuals with higher levels of math anxiety would show poorer working level memory capacity performance when confronted with material with mathematical content, versus individuals with lower levels
Susan K. Peterson and associates (1988) conducted a study on the impact of the use of manipulatives on different kinds of students and concluded that the result of using manipulative was positive for both gifted and disabled students (Peterson, Mercer & O'Shea, 1988). Joseph Martinez (1987) also explained that the use of solid manipulatives made studying math more fun as well as less hectic and demanding for most of
Research Article CritiqueThe purpose of this critique is to critically review an article by Amanda S. Williams, �Worry, Intolerance of Uncertainty, and Statistics Anxiety� (May 2013). This type of critique is important because far too many college students struggle with their math requirements for graduation due to anxiety over their abilities and anticipated suboptimal performance. The critique includes an analysis of the statistical data presented to determine whether they support
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