Mathematical Anxiety - Mathematical Anxiety in Schools: Causes and Potential Solutions - Solutions

Solutions

Studies by Herbert P. Ginsburg, Columbia University, show the influence of parents' and teachers' attitudes on "'the child's expectations in that area of learning.'... It is less the actual teaching and more the attitude and expectations of the teacher or parents that count." This is further supported by a survey of Montgomery County, Maryland students who "pointed to their parents as the primary force behind the interest in mathematics.".

Math Academy Online/Platonic Realms contends that math has two components. The first component, commonly focused on in many schools, is to calculate the answer. This component also has two subcomponents, namely the answer and the process or method used to determine the answer. Focusing more on the process or method enables students to make mistakes, but not 'fail at math'. The second component is to understand the mathematical concepts that underlay the problem being studied. “… and in this respect studying mathematics is much more like studying, say, music or painting than it is like studying history or biology.”

Amongst others supporting this viewpoint is the work of Dr. Eugene Geist, Associate Professor at Ohio University – Athens, Ohio and an early childhood education specialist. Dr. Geist's recommendations include focusing on the concepts rather than the right answer and letting students work on their own and discuss their solutions before the answer is given. Emphasis is given that young people hate to be wrong and hate situations where they can be embarrassed by being wrong.

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) (1989, 1995b) suggestions for teachers seeking to prevent math anxiety include:

• Accommodating for different learning styles
• Creating a variety of testing environments
• Designing positive experiences in math classes
• Refraining from tying self-esteem to success with math
• Emphasizing that everyone makes mistakes in mathematics
• Making math relevant
• Letting students have some input into their own evaluations
• Allowing for different social approaches to learning mathematics
• Emphasizing the importance of original, quality thinking rather than rote manipulation of formulas

Math (and Statistics) Therapy is a combination of coaching and counseling, provided for adults by people with credentials in both counseling and math education. In Math Therapy the reasons for anxiety are addressed, as well as the mathematical skills which are lacking. New coping skills are introduced and practiced, so that fear, distaste or other negative emotions do not block math (or statistics) learning.

There are several anxiety reducing techniques that teachers can teach their children and practice periodically throughout the year. Teachers will need to learn these techniques and encourage the students to practice them at home and to use them prior to testing or when feeling anxious during math class.

Several studies have shown that relaxation techniques can be used to help alleviate anxiety related to mathematics. In her workbook Conquering Math Anxiety, 3rd edition, Cynthia Arem offers specific strategies to reduce math avoidance and anxiety. One strategy she advocates for is relaxation exercises and indicates that by practicing relaxation techniques on a regularly basis for 10–20 minutes students can significantly can reduce their anxiety.

Dr. Edmundo Jacobson’s Progressive Muscle Relaxation taken from the book Mental Toughness Training for Sports, Loehr (1986) can be used in a modified form to reduce anxiety as posted on the website HypnoGenesis.

Visualization has also been used effectively to help reduce math anxiety. Arem has a chapter that deals with reducing test anxiety and advocates the use visualization. In her chapter titled Conquer Test Anxiety (Chapter 9) she has specific exercises devoted to visualization techniques to help the student feel calm and confident during testing.

Studies have shown students learn best when they are active rather than passive learners.

The theory of multiple intelligences suggests that there is a need for addressing different learning styles. Math lessons can be tailored for visual/spatial, logical/mathematics, musical, auditory, body/kinesthetic, interpersonal and intrapersonal and verbal/linguistic learning styles.

Everyone is capable of learning, but may learn best in different ways. Therefore, lessons must be presented in a variety of ways. New concepts can be taught through play acting, cooperative groups, visual aids, hands on activities or information technology. To help with learning statistics, there are many applets found on the Internet that help students learn about many things from probability distributions to linear regression. These applets are commonly used in introductory statistics classes, as many students benefit from using them.

Active learners ask critical questions, such as: Why do we do it this way, and not that way? Some teachers may find these questions annoying or difficult to answer, and indeed may have been trained to respond to such questions with hostility and contempt, designed to instill fear. Better teachers respond eagerly to these questions, and use them to help the students deepen their understand by examining alternative methods so the students can choose for themselves which method they prefer. This process can result in meaningful class discussions. Talking is the way in which students increase their understanding and command of math. Teachers can emphasize the importance of original thinking rather than rote manipulation of formulas. This can be done through class conversations. Teachers can give students insight as to why they learn certain content by asking students questions such as "What purpose is served by solving this problem?" and "why are we being asked to learn this?"

Reflective journals help students develop metacognitive skills by having them think about their understanding. According to Pugalee, writing helps students organize their thinking which helps them better understand mathematics. Moreover, writing in mathematics classes helps students problem solve and improve mathematical reasoning. When students know how to use mathematical reasoning, they are less anxious about solving problems.

However, there is still a large part of school math teaching which consists of memorization, repetition, and mechanically performed operations. Times tables are one example, wherein rote learning is essential to mathematics performance. When a student fails to learn the times tables at a young age, he or she can experience math anxiety later, when all the students' classmates can remember the tables but he or she cannot.

Children learn best when math is taught in a way that is relevant to their everyday lives. Children enjoy experimenting. To learn mathematics in any depth, students should be engaged in exploring, conjecturing, and thinking, as well as in rote learning of rules and procedures.