Overcoming Math Anxiety

A chewed-up pencil is representative of my past math-related experiences. (Image courtesy of Stock Exchange.)

Something that makes me feel better about my phobia of math is the knowledge that I am not alone. (Something else that makes me feel better is the fact that my skills with numbers are no longer being tested, and that I am allowed to use a calculator in my everyday life – but that’s another story.)

A quick Google search of “math anxiety” yields over nine million results. Most of these results link to pieces about how common math anxiety really is, as well as strategies to help people overcome this concern. Most of these tips are for high school students. They don’t exactly apply to me – I’m not writing math tests every few weeks anymore – but they are still worth thinking about, and they can actually be applied to a lot of other anxieties as well. For example, it’s important to recognize that math anxiety is an emotional response to something intimidating – it has nothing to do with intelligence and everything to do with confidence. Chances are, if you don’t believe you can do something, you won’t do it. On the flipside, if you believe in yourself, you’re a lot more likely to succeed.

A widespread belief is that girls are more prone to math anxiety than boys, and that boys are better at math. However, this article from Science Daily refutes both of those beliefs. In one study, elementary and high school students were asked to measure their level of anxiety. It concluded that girls more often report general anxiety about math. But when it comes to math tests, reported levels of anxiety are about the same. Another study suggests that some girls underperform in math class because they believe the stereotype that girls are inherently bad at math, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy.

In my quest to conquer my fear of math and logic puzzles, I’m keeping these articles and studies in mind – particularly the lesson that confidence is key and I shouldn’t get discouraged if I make mistakes. Like all things in life, success in math means not being afraid of being wrong; it's an important part of figuring out how to be right.

Janet Goertzen

Janet graduated from Bishop’s University with a Bachelor of Arts in English in 2010. She hopes to someday make a living from her words while continuing to avoid the terror of numbers. In her spare time, Janet can be found reading, playing trivia games, watching cat videos, or correcting people’s grammar on the internet.

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Are You Out of Your Vulcan Mind?

The website Sporcle is one of the best time-wasters ever invented. It is home to literally thousands of quizzes, on everything from Pokemon to world homicide rates to Agatha Christie novels to the most common Pope names. Seriously – search just about any topic on Sporcle and you’ll find a quiz about it. I’ve been playing games on Sporcle regularly for about the past five years, but I typically stick to topics that I know I will excel in: Game of Thrones trivia, lyrics to Beatles songs, spelling challenges. Those are all firmly in my wheelhouse. I’ve stayed as far away from logic quizzes as possible – until now.

I wish I could get some guidance from this guy. (Image courtesy of Wikimedia.)

I’m going to attempt a quiz called Nimble Number Logic Puzzle. The title already has me worried, and the ending of the url – “hardest-logic-puzzle-ever” – has me terrified. But this blog is all about facing my fears, so I’ll channel my inner Spock and think logical thoughts.

About five tries in, I am officially frustrated. So far, my fourth try has been the most successful, and I spent most of my fifth try attempting to quickly recreate my previous try, using my memory instead of my skills of deduction. Perhaps on my next attempt, I’ll use logic instead of my memory.

By my eighth try, I am getting very close to solving it, but still making mistakes. I can do this.

At a certain point, I get excited about getting the puzzle done correctly and I start to make typos – which end the game. Of course, this just gets me more frustrated, and I make more mistakes.

Finally, on about my 12th official try, I solve it! I’m flooded with a sense of relief and satisfaction – I don’t even care that it took me so many tries and I made so many mistakes. I finished it, and I did it all by myself, and I didn’t even look at the user comments for help. I did it!

Of course, I read the user comments after finishing the quiz, and most people were saying that it was the “easiest logic puzzle ever,” which makes me feel a little disheartened, but hey. I struggled with it and I conquered it. I'll work my way up to the harder puzzles, but for now, the important thing is that I'm making strides.

For more logic puzzles, as well as puzzles on any topic imaginable, visit Sporcle. 

Janet Goertzen

Janet graduated from Bishop’s University with a Bachelor of Arts in English in 2010. She hopes to someday make a living from her words while continuing to avoid the terror of numbers. In her spare time, Janet can be found reading, playing trivia games, watching cat videos, or correcting people’s grammar on the internet.

Follow:  Twitter | Wordpress | Pinterest