Have you ever experienced getting clammy hands and shaky legs and sweating excessively whenever you’re about to answer a math problem? Or are you one of those students who often have low exam scores in math due to the uncontrollable anxiousness they feel every time they have to deal with it? While such scenarios can significantly affect your drive to study this particular subject and dishearten you in the long run, don’t worry as you’re not the only one who’s been in those situations.
If you’re wondering how you can address that sort of issue, it’s a good idea to check reliable online resources for help with specific math topics you’re studying. After all, you don’t have to rely solely on the materials you’re given in school. For example, this may help you with an algebra lesson. There are numerous educational websites you can turn to for quick, simple explanations if your books or notes aren’t enough.
To learn more about the proper measures you should take to conquer your math anxiety, you can continue reading this article.
Signs Of Math Anxiety
If you’re suffering from math anxiety or you happen to know someone who is, it’s better to help them recognize their condition in order to handle it better. In particular, it could be beneficial if you learned how to determine the signs of math anxiety.
When it comes to identifying the signs of math anxiety, you may have already heard about the early symptoms of this disorder such as extreme nervousness, passive behaviour, and negative emotions posing significant impacts on one’s learning capacity and drive to learn the subject. Besides those, other prominent signs are loneliness, lack of confidence, and feelings of permanency, which is the idea that one’s inability to do something can’t be changed.
If a student starts showing unusual behaviours whenever they’re dealing with math problems or at the mere mention of the subject, that could also be an indication of math anxiety. You must know that this condition doesn’t only manifest in one’s cognitive and physiological aspects but can also show in one’s emotional reactions. Identifying the condition as soon as possible is the key to treating it.
Managing Math Anxiety
Now that you know how to spot math anxiety, it’d be beneficial for you to learn how to help other people recover from it. Similarly, if you’re suffering from the condition, there are ways for you to overcome it. Here are some of the measures you can try:
1. Hire A Reliable Tutor
Educators, teachers, and school administrators play a vital role in a student’s academic development and progress. They’re equally important figures in a student’s life since they serve as role models.
Aside from those people, tutors can be considered important individuals in one’s journey to learning math. When it comes to enhancing your math skills and learning capacity, you may consider hiring an experienced tutor who’ll guide you and provide you with the tools that you’ll need to better comprehend mathematics.
Your tutor can help you build confidence as well as create a low-pressure environment for you where you can study math properly. Whether you’re participating in online learning activities or attending face-to-face classes, they can make it easier for you to understand the subject by using techniques that are right for your current skill level and allowing you to learn concepts at a comfortable pace.
2. Administer Positive Reinforcement
One of the most efficient ways to recover from math anxiety is by carrying out positive reinforcement methods that aim to motivate. Provide simple yet meaningful rewards for yourself whenever you accomplish certain tasks related to the subject. In doing so, you can keep tabs on your progress and focus on your accomplishments rather than your mistakes.
3. Practice Cognitive Reframing
The process of reframing your anxiety can be beneficial in helping you improve your math performance. Accepting that you have math anxiety instead of getting exasperated because of it will give you the energy and capability to figure out how to calm down. This method can also be of great use in promoting critical thinking among students as well as allowing them to deal with the issue head-on.
4. Make Learning Math Fun
Creating a positive attitude towards mathematics may also ease your math anxiety. To do that, think of fun ways to study it or boost your interest in it. For instance, you can relate it to your areas of interest or your hobby. You may also look into some efficient problem-solving strategies to alleviate your anxiousness.
Math Anxiety: The Underlying Factors
Math anxiety isn’t just a simple fear of solving math problems. It’s neither one’s reluctance to study mathematics nor one’s inability to comprehend the areas of knowledge covered by the subject. It’s also not a mere product of one’s mind. This condition is more on fearing the processes that one may undergo while studying math. To help people deal with the issue, it’s better to understand what’s causing or triggering it.
Here’s a list of what you should know about math anxiety:
- Commonly viewed as the bane in many students’ school lives, mathematics is one of the most challenging subjects a person will encounter during the course of their studies. Although that’s not the case with all students, many of them think that it’s difficult to understand the subject, let alone excel in it.
- While it’s normal for students to find math challenging to comprehend, some experience more hardships regarding the subject, including developing some kind of phobia towards it.
- Math anxiety is a psychological condition that can significantly affect one’s capacity to retain and comprehend math problems due to extreme feelings of anxiety and tension. It’s also associated with the negative emotions of a person whenever they’re dealing with math problems and numbers.
- Math anxiety can be quite debilitating and stressful for math phobics, especially those who are still in school.
- Typically, math anxiety emanates from numerous influences such as traumatic experiences and distressing events. For some students, this condition limits their capacity to fully understand the subject and gradually lessens their drive to excel in it.
Apart from the aforementioned factors, the following can lead to math anxiety as well:
- Deadlines – These as well as time limits affect a student’s disposition and make them feel extremely anxious. Such factors pose a significant impact on one’s retention and memory and can cause them to forget certain concepts despite studying all night due to tension and uneasiness. They also prohibit students from learning at their own pace as they’re obliged to accomplish the tasks given to them within a limited time.
- Fear Of Being Humiliated – Another known reason most students have a hard time understanding math is their fear of public humiliation. They’re afraid of getting ridiculed and scolded if they don’t get the right answer or being left behind in class when it comes to comprehending the subject.
- The Educator’s Behaviour – Do you believe in the idea that younger individuals tend to adapt to the behaviour of the people around them or their attitude towards something? If so, then you might have to think about this aspect too. The behaviour of the educator teaching the subject can affect one’s attitude towards learning math. Teaching methods can also influence the perception of the students about the subject and can either motivate them or diminish their drive to learn it.
Takeaway
Learning math shouldn’t be more difficult than it actually is. If you’re dealing with math anxiety, you mustn’t allow it to impede you from obtaining a quality education. To overcome this condition, it would be better for you to learn to embrace your weaknesses in math and turn them into strengths.