An Opinion on the Learning Mathematics
“I’m not good at math”, “I hate math” or “math is too hard” are common phrases heard by students. “One of the curious aspects of the community here at Ateneo de Naga University(AdNU) is that it is socially acceptable to take pride in not being good in mathematics”. Where do these attitudes and beliefs come from? Can they be changed? Through this simple opinion, I would mention, three main ideas surfaced as possible reasons, we as students dislike math: math anxiety, lack of motivation in mathematics, and a negative attitude toward mathematics.
Math Anxiety
Math anxiety is a condition in which students experience negative reactions to mathematical concepts and evaluation methods. Math anxiety can lead to several consequences. For example, sometime, some teachers here at the Ateneo de Naga University remaining that mathematics anxiety may prevent students from pursuing higher-level math courses and and some teachers also stated, “math anxiety has been found to have a negative relationship with mathematics performance and achievement” Anxious individuals may avoid mathematics classes, may be more likely to have negative attitudes toward mathematics related activities, or if they become elementary teachers, may not spend as much time teaching mathematics as their less anxious colleagues. So, it means that math anxiety has two dimensions: affective (nervousness, tension, dread, fear) and cognitive (worry).
On the other hand, some teachers and students have focused on the effect anxiety has on achievement. In our everyday life as students, it is clear to compare the relationship between math anxiety and achievement in math. The population correlation for the relationship between math anxiety and math achievement have significant meaning. It tells us that fluency in math may be more related to math anxiety than overall performance. In other words, math anxiety may increase with problem complexity. One implication is that as students progress through high school and classes become more complex their anxiety level will increase.
Motivation
Motivation can be divided into two categories: extrinsic and intrinsic. Extrinsic motivation is desire to obtain rewards for academic tasks, such as grades, or avoid punishments. "Academic intrinsic motivation is the drive or desire of the student to engage in learning ‘for its own sake’”.
“Students’ feeling of relatedness to their teachers was strong predictors of their cognitive, behavioral, and emotional engagement in classroom activities” . Some teacher gave the example: Jaime Escalante, the real-life hero of the film Stand and Deliver, insists that he must teach his students for three years if they are to succeed in AP calculus. He conscientiously builds relations of care and trust with each student. He shows steady concern for the integral development of his students – how they are doing in English, how their home lives are going, what jobs and sports they participate in. This attitude and effort that accompanies it are part of teaching mathematics. As we build such relations, our students learn to trust us. When the work is not as exciting as we’d like it to be or when they have low moments (as we all do), students will often persist in mathematical endeavors for their teacher. “Okay, if you say so. I’ll do it - just for you”. As the process of learning goes on a review of literature and we found out that to “describe theoretical orientations guiding research in mathematics motivation and to discuss findings in terms of how they facilitate or inhibit achievement". It gives us: “students' perception of success in mathematics are highly influential in forming their motivational attitudes”; “motivations towards mathematics are developed early, are highly stable over time, and are influenced greatly by teacher actions and attitudes"; “providing opportunities for students to develop intrinsic motivation in mathematics is generally superior to providing extrinsic incentives for achievement”; and “Last, and most important, achievement motivation in mathematics, though stable, can be affected through careful instructional design”.
Attitude
“Attitude toward mathematics is defined as a general emotional disposition toward the school subject of mathematics” . It has been obvious to us that “attitude toward mathematics significantly influenced choice of mathematics major”. “One of the most important reasons for nurturing a positive attitude in mathematics is that it may increase one’s. tendency to elect mathematics courses in high school and college and possibly to elect careers in a math related field” One important factor in students’ attitude toward mathematics is the teacher and classroom environment. It said that teacher quality (enthusiasm, respect, commitment to help students learn, fairness, praise and reinforcement) seems to be consistently related to attitude toward mathematics.“However, the important trend highlighted in this concern is that students in secondary school become increasingly less positive with regard to their attitude toward mathematics and their beliefs in the social importance on mathematics”. Students’ notions of the nature of science showed little change. In regard to middle school changes, attitude and social importance of mathematics declined at a significantly slower rate for students with positive teacher push and positive peer influence. Parental push was also a significant influence. In high school, positive peer influence , positive teacher push, and curriculum (students taking higher math) were related to slower rates of decline in attitude and social importance. It means: “If teachers hold high expectations and present students with challenging mathematics, then students may be more likely to enjoy mathematics and recognize it usefulness” and “teachers’ choice of activities and mathematics problems can have a strong impact on the values that are portrayed in the classroom and on how students view mathematics and its usefulness”. Supporting positive peer networks and involving parents in school activities involving mathematics can help slow decline of students’ negative attitude toward mathematics. Therefore, the junior high years may provide teachers an opportunity to treat negative attitudes toward math and foster high achievement.
Summary
It is clear, that math anxiety, motivation, and attitude all play important roles.Whether or not students will pursue advanced mathematics courses and careers in math related fields. As some of teachers concern, it has not only become acceptable to not be good at mathematics, but acceptable to be proud of not being good in mathematics. Here are the some suggestions to address the problem, for example: change teaching methods, get students actively involved in learning mathematics, show students the relevance of mathematics in their lives, build relationships with the students, promote a positive affective environment, and create interest in the mathematics field are just a few. In any case, the affective environment can play a large role in reversing the trend of negative attitudes about mathematics, lack of motivation, and the adverse effect of math anxiety on the students.
Note: this is one of my entries in my Portfolio, to be submitted to the Assessment II teacher, at AdNU.
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