"Mathematics anxiety is not uncommon in colleges and universities and Mathematics anxiety can actually start at a very young age and continue into adulthood. An insensitive mathematics teacher can create a setting in which students develop a pattern of anxiety regarding dealing with mathematics which may become ongoing and extremely challenging for the student to overcome (Perry, 2004). Parents can add to that anxiety by creating a negative environment for their children through a lack of support for the student’s difficulty at succeeding in the acquisition of mathematics skills (Stolpa, 2004). Students may not have learned basic mathematics skills needed to take mathematics classes. The attitudes and motivations of students toward mathematics can influence student learning and the successful completion of the college-level mathematics requirement." (excerpt from my dissertation at University of Phoenix)
Myth or Fact
| Myth | Math is not used in professional life. |
| Fact | Mathematics and business: business works with numbers to evaluate and measure almost every aspect of modern business life. Mathematics and health science: Nurses must adjust drug dosages for children and know how drugs are metabolized in the body. Mathematics and IT: Programming languages and networks consist primarily of mathematical structures. Mathematics and criminal justice: Criminal science professionals need a solid and well-rounded background in a variety of fields. Consider the television show Numb3ers. Mathematics and social science: Statistics are used to help uncover patterns between people’s behaviors and their effects.
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| Myth | Men are better at math than women. |
| False | Absolutely false. Women have exactly the same kind of brain structure as men in this regard, and they can think just as mathematically as men can. It is true that more women are steered away from math courses, and that more women report math anxiety; however, those are separate issues from the ability to do math.
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| Myth | I know I am no good at math because I cannot answer the questions right away.
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| Fact | Even people who are highly skilled in mathematics and science find these subjects to be challenging. Understanding math requires hard work, but most of us have mastered difficult situations in other areas of our lives, such as driving a car. If you can do that, then you can do math
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| Myth | Some people just have a mathematical mind.
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| Fact | Actually, cognitive scientists are discovering that we all have innate mathematical ability, which we display from the time we are born. Mathematics sense is inborn and hardwired in every human.
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| Myth | There is a right way and a wrong way to do a math problem.
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| Fact | There is usually a choice of different ways to approach and solve a math problem. Often, it is the process you use to solve the problem that is more important than the actual number answer—after all, a calculator can do the calculations, but a calculator cannot figure out which calculations are necessary. Thinking about your problem solving approaches can make you a better math student and make your math classes more enjoyable.
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| Myth | Knowing the rules and how to use them is the most important part of math.
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| Fact | The thought process that uncovered the rule is more important. If you can recreate the thought process, then you can use that to remember the rule.
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University of Phoenix (2003). Dealing with math anxiety. Center for Mathematics Excellence.