Uh can I ask you some maths questions is that all right 25 divided 5 five well done 13 * 4 uh 52 he better than me 40 * 5 um 240 no 300 plus uh 245 545 you're good that turns into a 12 then the uh two goes into the eight how are you how are you doing today good great yeah Friday Friday yeah Friday yay.
Um what's 4 time 7 28 I'd have to say 1,240 maybe is that right I give you an easy one 2 + 38 40 yes what's the square root of Pi got you with that one did that give you a bit of anxiety yeah do you reckon Math's anxiety is a thing yes yeah I think that's the thing probably not for.
Me I do know people who have experienced maass anxiety and myself I'm not particularly I don't perform particularly well in tests yeah I think a lot of people would be nervous about maths not a lot of people like it so they just might not want to do it and get a bit anxious about it let's just acknowledge mathematics anxiety is real.
It's a thing mathematics anxiety is an interesting phenomenon because in many ways it is a a sort of substrand of the very familiar anxiety which we can experience for anything I mean fear of spiders fear of heights that uh physical physiological reaction when something that we are properly afraid of uh sort.
Of confronts us and you know all that fight andf flight reflexes come into play Math's anxiety is different or feels different for everybody so for some this could be taking a math test feeling really uncomfortable in the presence of a mathematical task for others it can be full-blown uh panic attack when thinking about you know how.
Much change to give to a customer some studies found Math's anxiety affects as many as one in three Aussies and usually starts with negative experiences at school when we're exposed to maths the most it could be struggling to keep up in class or during fast-paced tests or activities in mathematics not everything but a lot of things are right.
Or wrong even though mistakes are actually really valuable and important they're how we learn being told or discovering that we're wrong or even just getting a test back and having lots of crosses all over it that can be an experience that actually produces anxiety when we're anticipating it in the future another factor is getting.
Negative ideas about Mass from the people around us it's not because our teachers are doing anything horribly wrong or our parents are saying the wrong thing it's just that they're often not modeling positive attitude so I can remember my own mom saying well I'm just not very good at maths go ask your dad at mainstream media they portray.
Mathematics is something which is for a certain narrow set of the population excellent great turnout this year like just think of a movie where High School culture was portrayed and the the people who are really good at mathematics which which group is that and they're they're the Nerds who you don't want to have anything to do with and he solves the.
Equation Crowd Goes Wild no b a recent international study found 15-year-olds including Aussies who reported pretty high levels of math anxiety ended up lagging behind their classmates by nearly a full year and studies consistently show that girls on average report higher levels of math anxiety than boys that's even when girls.
Are performing as well or better than boys in the same maths classes so for me Rebecca I was really into maths when I was in primary school and then as I moved through High School it all sort of changed is this quite a common experience unfortunately it is so young girls are just being I guess turned off from studying mathematics it does impact.
Then I guess your choice to study math in the rest of high school and then going on and doing you know a math-based career so I thought I'd head to a school to talk to some students who are doing Advanced maths in years 11 and 12 to see what they think about it have you ever experienced math anxiety I've never had math anxiety I've had teachers tell me.
That you know like one little thing in maths and it just drags down to the next question and you know you can lose a few marks very easily it would be in class just doing work teacher would be explaining and at times I wouldn't understand the content and that would make me extremely nervous because if I don't understand I wouldn't be able to.
Do the work or the tests I think it probably started around grade 10 when I was going into advanced math and it was getting a bit harder and I was stressing I was constantly crying during or after tests because I was so stressed about whether or not I was going to hit that a grade so I definitely think I was getting the A and anxiety is it.
Different when you go into other tests in other subjects bio chem or physics test I'd say I'm definitely more confident for those tests because it's about memory but with math it's a skill a lot of people say you know oh I'm just not good at maths uh I don't have a math brain what is that about but there is no such thing as a math brain or you can or.
You cannot do it in essence if I had to say one thing it comes down to your confidence and confidence comes through practice I guess that's one of the things I want to encourage anyone out there you know listening or watching that being slow at mathematics isn't a handicap it's actually a really important skill um and an ability to.
Persevere through a problem that's very valuable these are some other things that help with math anxiety slowly building confidence through learning and staying positive using mindfulness and breathing exercises to tackle anxious feelings and making maths relevant to you I'd put money on the table that there's actually a lot of mathematics.
That everyone already knows they just don't call it mathematics because they call it part of cooking or part of music or part of sport find where mathematics connects to the things that you love well you said that you have experienced maths anxiety but you are also now in advanced maths in year 12 how do you think you've kind of gotten past that so.
I think a math teacher definitely a good maths teacher definitely makes a big big difference repetition just practicing questions and seeking help when needed having a supportive parent and just someone there for you when you're struggling is definitely helpful so I definitely think like just trying and um persisting and just like bouncing back.
As best as you can
