Yes, you heard right. Who is afraid of mathematics? Why is mathematics, which we use in every corner of our lives and makes our work easier, scary? We use math while scheduling, shopping, and even playing games. Thanks to advanced mathematics, technology is developing and advancing. Let’s examine the reasons why math is so scary.
1- Not Adapting the Mathematics Classes to Daily Life
First of all, the reason for one of the biggest prejudices is that the lessons are not adapted to daily life. Terms such as x, y, z that we use for the unknown terms do not actually make sense in children’s minds. So, they cannot associate what they have learned with real life. Whereas, in history or social studies, they learn about the past and in English classes and they learn the language they use every day. However, there is a great chaos in the math classes. Problems that cannot be solved and disconnected from daily life turn children against mathematics.
2- Environmental Factors
Another reason is the environmental factors. A student develops prejudice against mathematics when a sibling says “This is very difficult, you can’t do it!”, or a friend from an upper grade says “Even I couldn’t do it, these are too difficult!“. Also, the student moves away from mathematics completely after hearing negative statements from parents, and comparisons with other successful peers.
3- Mathematics Having an Important Place on The Path Towards Career
Another reason is that mathematics occupies an important place on the steps leading to a successful career. The student may be forced to disconnect from other subjects of interest in order to study mathematics. Thus, studying mathematics turns into a punishment in the eyes of the student. However, if they can see a relationship between mathematics and the subjects they are successful in, they will be more curious and excited about mathematics.
How Can We Make Children Love Mathematics?
In the sections above, we examined the reasons for children’s prejudices against mathematics. So how can we make children love math? First of all, students should know that success in mathematics is not the only success in life. Therefore, children’s success in different fields should also be encouraged. Studies have shown that the higher the education level of the parents, the less fear of mathematics their children have.
“ This means that in order for our children to overcome their fear of mathematics, we must overcome our own fear of mathematics first. “
One of the other steps to be taken is not to make comparisons with students who are considered to be successful. It is important to remember that every child’s success is different. We, the Qbicart Family, hope that we were able to help you in this regard by saying “Who is afraid of mathematics!”. Hope to see you with our other beautiful articles, stay safe.
Kaynakça:
- • (PDF) öğrencilerin Matematik Korkusunun i̇ncelenmesi …0*. (n.d.). Retrieved October 4, 2021, from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/346438928_Ogrencilerin_Matematik_Korkusunun_Incelenmesi_Investigation_of_Students’_Fear_of_Machametics.
