For a long time the lack of ability to perform or learn mathematics has been reduced to the myth that students are predisposed for mathematical learning; some students are just not good at math. As more researchers look into the existence of math anxiety there is overwhelming evidence that math anxiety has a strong negative impact on a student’s performance in math courses. I believe that teachers have a duty to learn practices that can not only address our student’s math anxiety but reduce it over time. I firmly believe that if we can train teachers to target a student’s math anxiety we will be able to increase that student’s mathematical performance, moving them closer to one years growth in one years time.
My research could potentially have wide reaching effects. On an International level my research could establish a way for countries to identify math anxiety, even creating standards for official diagnosis, treatment and pedagogical approaches that address math anxiety before mathematical content. On a National level it could help the United States confront its long standing passivity when it comes to accepted Mathphobia, provide for students a way to better identify and explain their learning needs and set a teaching standard for math instructors that would require them to acknowledge the whole students’ needs in a math classroom. My research could also add language to the standards for mathematical practice requiring math anxiety to be addressed. At a State level my research could establish an initiative for funding into further math anxiety research, leading to a state adopted set of teaching practices which help students with math anxiety to continue developing in their conceptual/procedural understanding. At a District level we could establish the need for professional development on the practices which reduce math anxiety in our students, allowing teachers to reach students who have been stagnant in their mathematical development. At a School site level my research could bring attention to the existence of math anxiety, help our counseling team and peer counseling team identify math anxiety in students and give my department the tools to teach students who think “Math is not for me”. In doing research for my literary review I have split articles into two categories: 1. Studies related to the existence of math anxiety in students 2. Articles that address teaching practices related to reducing math anxiety I have found many articles which establish that existence of math anxiety in students and talk about the negative effects that math anxiety has on their performance but I have only found 2 articles which address the interventions and practices that teachers can use in their classrooms in order to reduce the level of math anxiety their students feel. This indicates to me that we are still searching for effective methods to reduce student’s feelings of anxiety and at this point the burden is placed upon the student to come up with methods of surviving despite the anxiety experienced in connection to math.
5 Comments
Caitlin Mitchell
9/29/2018 12:26:52 pm
Hi there!
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Julie Lovie
9/30/2018 01:23:49 pm
Brandon I am very interested in your research I feel like it is connected to my desire to create positive math mindsets. Have you read any of Jo Boalers articles or her book Mathematical Mindsets ? Also I was wondering if you have read Carol Dweck's Growth Mindset book ? So many reason's for this anxiety is how we teach the math, grade the math, and don't allow students to grow from their mistakes. I would love to talk with you more about this especially since we both teach students who have already failed Math 1 before they entered our Math 1 classes I am seeing encouraging results with Jo Boaler's newly released weeks of Algebra on her youcubed.org site. This is important research Brandon !
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Jennifer Perkins
9/30/2018 03:12:06 pm
Hi Brandon! I think your goal to target math anxiety is a great one. Providing students with a way to voice their needs is a powerful tool that will set them up for success in math and in their academic future as a whole. I think it’s a great idea to provide tools to reduce math anxiety with the counseling team and peer counseling team at your site in order to reach as many students as possible.
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Jona Sandau
9/30/2018 11:18:38 pm
Brandon, I loved your blog. So well written and many wonderful possibilities explored. I found myself wondering about school anxiety in general and how this work might open the doors to helping so many of our students who suffer from anxiety at school. Finding tools and strategies to cope with math anxiety could most likely help every teacher, everywhere--as the tools and strategies that you find might be even applicable to so many forms of anxiety or stress in school situations. So exciting!
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Happy Johnson
10/2/2018 12:08:33 pm
Greetings Brandon. I really enjoyed reading your posting. Important questions/work. If I may, I'd like to ask a few questions and make a comment or two.
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