Math anxiety is real: what can we do about it?

We’ve all hit that wall dealing with numbers.

For me, the moment came in first year calculus. The proofs were over my head, my profs may as well have been talking textbooks, and I felt like an idiot. I seriously thought about dropping out of my program once a term. Thankfully I had a support system to help me get through (really good and smart friends, and a mother who told me I would move back to the suburbs if I dropped out. Ironically, chalk one up to fear-based motivation!)

That all or nothing feeling - you either “get it” or you don’t - is one that is pervasive in math learning and teaching.

As I teach a group of adult learners in a foundations math course this term, I’m starting to see the signs of anxiety in them as learners. A quiz recently on conversion rates had a handful of them visibly stressed, and verbally cursing about having to do this and wanting to quit. This was a group of people, who, until this point, had been surprisingly excited about learning math. So what is going on here, and what can we do?!​

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As material starts to get more difficult, the excitement of easily ‘getting it’ is transforming into a feeling of failure and frustration in my students. Previous school experiences are coming back and it’s bringing up not-so-postive feelings. I am not going to let them give up just yet though. Here are some strategies that are being used, to help alleviate this fear in math (many of these are included in a literature review by Laura Iossi, Florida International University):
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Curricular strategies:

• giving the option of a ‘re-test’ allows the anxiety to decrease, alleviating pressure from getting only one chance, to focusing on learning (this is working for some of my students’ anxiety, although so far, not really increasing their grades)
• self-paced learning: this is one of my favourite approaches for math, and I’ve seen it done effectively at an alternative school in India. Students are able to work on different units at different times, and take the time they need to work through units they find more tough. Unfortunately this is not a common design feature in math programs I’ve seen in mainstream schools (yet!)
• online learning: I see value in the social aspect of learning, but there are students who prefer complete independence in learning math, and online tools like Khan Academy can help facilitate this. More of my students like to use these tools to reinforce and practice concepts.
• single-gender classrooms: this is a strategy that I have fallen into this term, as the program I am teaching in is geared to women transitioning to trades. I do see an increased confidence in women voicing their questions and participating actively; in mixed gender classrooms in high schools, I found guys were more prone to speaking up, and it was harder to gauge where the girls were at.

Instructional strategies:

• using hands on manipulatives: children aren’t the only ones who can benefit from using blocks and other tools to be able to visualize math problems
• communication to address sensitivity to math hurdles: this term we had a check in with our students to discuss concerns and frustrations after that conversions quiz, and how to move forward
• Relaxation activities: this term I am incorporating mindfulness based relaxation exercises twice a week. Although there are a handful of students who prefer not to engage with the exercise, the majority of class appreciates the few minutes to reset, and I find the calmness in the room helpful in offsetting the frenetic energy that is sometimes present in a math classroom.

​This is an ongoing process of learning for all of us, but I’m grateful that we are starting to address the elephant in the room, rather than pretend it doesn't exist!