Math Anxiety: fear of tackling math problems.

A note from

Maureen Tingley, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Fredericton Campus. This appeared in Teaching Voices, September 1997. Math anxiety is a pervasive problem in todays society. Many students learn math anxiety at home, before ever starting school. Few students have survived the K-12 system without meeting a mathematics teacher who was uncomfortable with some concept in the curriculum. Though mathematics is dicult to teach/learn, it seems that math anxiety can be taught/learned almost by osmosis. Any math/stat teacher will tell you that the only way to learn a mathematical subject is to work problems. So, most of us assign lots of problems. In math/stat courses, there are no labs, but we demand thinking time. Some students are more reluctant then others to take the plunge, and tackle those rst few assignments. I am writing to ask our colleagues for help in dealing with such students. It seems to be almost impossible to show concern for performance in a math/stat course without reinforcing the very anxiety which is at the heart of the problem. If a student comes to say that he or she is having trouble with a math/stat course please do not initiate or encourage talk about nding a tutor. To discuss such an option amounts to reinforcing the students math anxiety. It is essential that everything faculty advisors say be more positive than that. Here are a few suggestions. Your professor expects you to spend 8 or 10 hours each week working on this course. Are you doing that? Dont just read the notes. You must try to do problems. There are many problems in the text. There are worked examples in your notes and in the text. They are your models. Have you missed any classes? If so, did you get the notes? Did you read through those notes? [Math/stat does build on itself. A missed class can easily lead to confusion for the rest of the term.] Do you know anyone in the class? Have you tried working with a friend? Try talking with the student who sits beside you. [Students really do learn better when they try to explain ideas to each other.] Did you hand in the most recent assignment? Did you go to see the instructor for help with that assignment? Did you read through the solutions to that assignment? [Many professors place solutions in one of the libraries, or on the web. Weak students need to plan at least an hour to go over solutions to each assignment.]

 Have you started working on the next assignment? When is it due? Have you asked the instructor for help? [The instructor will give hints and pointers, and encourage the student to come back.] Read over the assignment the day it is given out. Tackle the easiest problem days before it is due. The solutions to all problems are in the text and the class notes. The challenge is to realize where. The way to solve a problem is not to thumb through notes looking for a formula, but rather to say: Somehow or other, this problem is like one in my notes. Your rst attempt at a problem may not work mathematicians make false starts all the time. Try something else. If the rst assigned problem is #10 on page 76, then maybe you should start with #1 on page 76, or even with #1 on page 65. Those rst few problems are the hardest. When counselling rst-year students, you will realize that some of them have come through the K-12 system with extremely poor mathematics skills. If caught early enough, such students may be well advised to drop down from MATH1003 to MATH1003L (which consists of the regular MATH1003 material spread over two semesters, with review of high school topics as required), or even to MATH0863 (high school mathematics, oered through Extension). If you suspect just a few gaps in high school mathematics, then the UNB Math Help Centre (453-4768, Tilley 422) can help. Early in each term, the Math Help Centre runs a Saturday seminar on high school mathematics. The Centre also runs regular help sessions throughout the year. The PAL system also oers help sessions. But please remember that it is much easier to sit in a help session or tutorial, watching somebody else work problems, than to work problems by oneself. In order to pass the course, students must be able to work certain types of problems alone, and unassisted. It is important that students appreciate that they can and should approach their professors outside class for help, that no question is too dumb to ask and that they learn to collaborate eectively on assignments. With many students, however, the problem is within: nding the courage to tackle those rst few problems. The key to success is to (eventually) sit down and solve a problem any problem all by myself . We would greatly appreciate the assistance of our colleagues in dispelling the legacies of math anxiety.