Popping Math Anxiety

Math anxiety is a very real fear for millions of people. But the problem becomes acute when the person most afraid of numbers and equations is standing in front of the classroom trying to teach the subject.

Think for a moment about mathematics. Do you suddenly feel a little nervous? Does your heart beat a little faster? Remember all those squiggly equations that stretched across the blackboard? How about those arcane formulas chock full of numbers and letters, not to mention the symbols with names that were hard to pronounce, let alone remember? Do you flash back to a particular moment in elementary school, junior high, high school, or college? Is it a bad experience best left buried deep within your brain? Can you see that particular teacher or professor’s face as he or she announces a pop quiz?

Please, no pop quiz today...please!

If so, you are far from alone. For millions of people, math anxiety is a very real fear.

A group of researchers at Arizona State University wants to help people overcome that fear. And that’s just for the people who are actually learning to be math teachers.

Marilyn Carlson is director of ASU’s Center for Research on Education in Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Technology (CRESMET). She says that in many respects, the fundamental issue is perception.

“The image and fear of math is molded and shaped by past experiences,” Carlson says. “Teaching and learning mathematics has been more about rote memorization and carrying out procedures without really understanding why they work and where they are useful. This approach fails to stimulate students’ imagination and creative abilities. It gives students an inaccurate view of what’s involved in being a mathematical or scientific thinker.”

Throughout the United States, a fundamental lack of understanding for key mathematics concepts exists for students of all ages. Research findings indicate that even high performing students have a shallow grasp of critical concepts and ideas.

What’s more, from any given class of high school students, the number of students taking math classes drops by 50 percent every year from the 9th through 12th grade. Only 12 percent of the students who begin mathematics courses as freshmen will take advanced math as a senior in high school.

Many scientific disciplines and engineering fields are grounded in mathematics. Other disciplines such as life and social sciences rely on math for analysis, projections, and understanding. So as the ability to grasp equations and problem solving dips, so does a student’s base of knowledge to apply to other fields.

The ASU researcher says that a typical math curriculum focuses on quantity of concepts and not quality. As a result, the instructional experience often fails to promote engagement in genuine mathematical activity. Such experiences are necessary if students are to develop and gain confidence in their quantitative reasoning abilities.

Carlson says that researchers at CRESMET are determined to improve that experience for students by helping teachers broaden their own understanding of the context of math and science and its concepts.

CRESMET was established at ASU in 1997. Researchers at the center focus on all aspects of the education process in science, math, and engineering. Their effort is based on a simple recognition that none of the fields lives in isolation and that each one is needed for the other.

“The concept was born out of need to bring science and math educators to work with scientists, engineers, and mathematicians to rethink teaching and learning of science and mathematics,” Carlson says. “Our broad research base tells us we should be trying to produce integrated knowledge in students.”

Carlson says that it is imperative that science and mathematics educators study and create new models and methods to assure that teachers have the best chance for success in these areas. The ultimate goal is to help teachers promote students’ curiosity and reasoning abilities and to build a strong foundation of core mathematics and science concepts.

Much of the work done by CRESMET researchers is designed to help teachers themselves put mathematical knowledge into real-world contexts. As students learn about formulas and equations, they need to see how those numbers work in the real world. They need to see how the numbers can be used to characterize the nature of change in real phenomena, such as population growth, financial investments, or pressure change on your ears when scuba diving. If the teacher can connect a calculation to a tangible result, then the math will have greater meaning for the student.

Lots of studies have been done to measure teacher knowledge. “The results generally report that many teachers have not been supported in developing the type of knowledge they need to be highly effective teachers,” Carlson explains. “Universities need to do a better job of supporting teachers in first acquiring deep conceptions and connections. We have to help them to become more confident and proficient problem solvers.”

Carlson thinks it is important that a teacher emerge as someone who is intellectually curious. After all, the teacher is the one who gets to decide on the nature of the activities and conversations in which students are engaged.

“It is very difficult to teach something you don’t possess yourself,” she adds.

To create these types of teachers, CRESMET is connecting scientists who work in physics, bioengineering, nanotechnology, and biology with mathematicians and science and math educators. The collaboration bridges the gap between theoretical and applied knowledge. Together, the groups work to develop new curriculum and instructional materials designed to inspire students as well as to build their confidence, curiosity, and problem-solving abilities.

“We’re developing novel and interesting projects and activities, many of which the teachers can take into their own classrooms,” Carlson says.

Beyond the curriculum issues, the projects are giving teachers a new network of support through professional learning communities. As a result, teachers are connecting with their colleagues. They learn together and get to see what is working in other classrooms.

The researchers also use video cameras and take the results back to the learning communities. Carlson says the experience can be very powerful for the educators. There often is little time in the typical school schedule for teachers to reflect on and study how their teaching is impacting student learning.

“Teachers rarely watch other teachers teach,” she says. “Developing expertise in sports or the performing arts requires careful study of the performance. They see what works and what study how to improve.”

Why should teaching be different? “Teaching is very much a performance that requires sophisticated knowledge for making numerous choices about how best to engage students,” Carlson says. “Our teachers find this concept extremely useful. They are beginning to change some of their teaching approaches based on careful study of the videos. They get to see what is and is not effective with students.”

Carlson says that progress is being made. “Science and math instruction are frequently lacking in relevance and lively discussions about issues that interest students,” she says. Slowly, new teachers are breaking the mold. Teaching math is no longer just about monotone lectures and the presentation of static facts on the blackboard. It does not have to be that way.—Gary Campbell