Maths Anxiety or Arithmophobia is fear of mathematics and in this, the person faces the challenges in retaining the formulas, failing to understand what is being asked, and many more things. But you need to know that it is not a terminal illness. Now you are about to discover some important points to withstand these challenges that you face related to maths.
Acknowledge the phobia: To eliminate the problem it is important to acknowledge it
To beat the phobia you have to acknowledge that you have this phobia – and this can be done easily an IB math tutor. Sometimes one fails to realize the exact problem and would mistake it for some other reason. So this problem could be recognized as sleep deprivation, distraction, or maybe several other reasons.
Tobias & Weissbrod (1980) characterized math anxiety as “the terror, helplessness, immobility, and mental instability that occurs among certain persons when they are expected to answer a mathematical issue,” and it is considered to afflict a considerable percentage of the population.
The following are some of the signs and symptoms of math anxiety:
• Emotional symptoms include a sense of powerlessness, a loss of confidence, and a dread of making mistakes.
• Physical symptoms include racing heart, uneven breathing, sweating, shakiness, biting nails, a hollow feeling in the stomach, and nausea.
• Frustration at not being able to solve arithmetic problems.
• When it comes to questions, you don’t know where to start or you never receive the proper response.
• I’m confused and simply want to get out of here.
• Before and during exams, I was extremely stressed.
The brain’s effect
Numbers anxiety has been proven to have significant impacts on areas of the brain required to understand maths in recent studies employing brain scanners (fMRI).
Solving mathematical problems necessitates the use of working memory. Working memory is eroded by math anxiety because the brain is preoccupied with worrying about arithmetic rather than completing it. This means that if someone is anxious, they will find it difficult to understand what is being taught or to attempt questions. Take help of the online IB maths tutor in India!
Because the brain equates arithmetic with pain due to previous bad experiences with maths, the areas of the brain linked with pain perception are active while thinking about maths. This only happens while you’re thinking about arithmetic; it doesn’t happen when you’re really performing math. Maths may also be perceived as a threat by the brain, thus the natural reaction is to ‘run’ away from it in the same manner as one would hysterically run away from a tiger.
Causes and consequences
According to Finlayson (2014), math anxiety is frequently connected to the types of teaching approaches used in the classrooms, which frequently stress memorization and rote recitation. Teachers who were worried themselves may have overcompensated by stressing a black-and-white, right-or-wrong approach in their early arithmetic instruction.
Most people have had unpleasant arithmetic experiences, such as shame or embarrassment as a result of failure, insensitive or uncaring teachers, poor attitudes about math from friends or family, and typical rote memorization rather than comprehending the processes. As a result of the bad ideas and experiences that arithmetic evokes, many math-phobic pupils will avoid it. This could mean ignoring subjects or modules that they believe contain math (including statistics), or deferring math study until the last minute if they must. Poor practice leads to poor performance, which is yet another unpleasant arithmetic experience for the student, adding to their anxiety by reinforcing their belief that they are lousy at math.
Most courses now require learners to attend a minimum of one of these subjects, so avoiding math or statistics has become increasingly difficult. Arithmetic anxiety, on the other hand, maybe addressed in a caring setting by recognizing and regulating the worry and acknowledging that maths is a skill that takes effort rather than inborn talent.
Golden thoughts on maths education
Math necessitates a variety of study methods. Other courses need you to absorb and grasp the subject, but you are rarely required to apply it. You must work on the issues when studying math. It’s rare that you can fully absorb the content in a math class without actively engaging. Repetition is generally required to become “fluent” in the topic, much as it is in learning to perform music.
As soon as you start to feel lost, ask questions in class. Request assistance from your IB maths tutor in Gurgaon, a learning lab tutor, or a supportive partner with any topics you don’t understand. Avoid ignoring gaps in your knowledge since they will come to bite you.
Rather than being a passive learner, aim to be an enthusiastic one. As far as possible, take charge of your own education. When confronted with unexpected material, the more confident you appear, the less terrified you will feel.