For many students, math and anxiety go hand in hand. According to a new study, this anxiety can get in the way of how students study math.
In the study, the researchers found that anxious math students — even though they are overall good students — spend more time passively studying the textbook than tackling actual math problems, which is better use of study time.
This study (opens in a new tab) confirms what Jeanette Nicholas, a math teacher at Belle Fourche Middle School in Belle Fourche, South Dakota, and many others have long known about the negative role anxiety can play when it comes to math. With his students, Nicholas uses a variety of strategies to help students overcome anxiety and build a more positive relationship with math.
Inspire math-anxious students by showing them success
“They need to see success,” says Nicholas of students who are anxious about math. Nicholas teaches an additional math course which provides additional support. To build students’ confidence, she will often ask them to begin by solving types of problems for which they have already demonstrated competence. “So if the teacher is starting a unit on fractions, and I know she’s going to be teaching some concepts like adding and subtracting different denominators, we’re going to go back and revisit adding fractions with denominators similar.” Students then move on to more difficult problems.
Technology can help in this process. Nicholas uses Get More Math, a math practice software that allows students to track their progress through a color-coded system. For example, when students revisit an old skill, the teaching tool reminds them of their previous mastery. As students learn new skills, they can see their progress, further build confidence and dispel anxiety. “Even if they think, ‘I’m not very good at this,’ they suddenly realize, ‘Hey, I’m getting points,'” says Nicholas.
Correct mistakes and encourage students not to call themselves bad at math
In middle school, many students begin to form lifelong associations with certain subjects and may come to hate math. “Usually in the seventh grade, they to know they’re not good at math,” says Nicholas. However, encouraging them to try anyway and providing them with these simple early opportunities for success can encourage students to change their perception of their abilities.
In addition, it is important to give real-time feedback and chances to correct errors. Nicholas favors math learning tools that allow students to correct problems they got wrong. She also makes sure to offer extra help to students in difficulty and also encourages peer mentoring. “It’s cool to see students who know how to solve this problem, they can help each other,” she says.
Ultimately, for Nicholas, tackling math anxiety is about building students’ self-confidence. With enough practice, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.