Believe it or not, you can do math - but only if you believe it!
If you're reading this blog, chances are you're someone who feels uncomfortable with math. (Either that or you're one of my friends or family members - but even then there's a pretty good chance!) About 93% of Americans report having math anxiety to at least some degree. (https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED536509) When I tell people that I teach math, the response almost always includes one or both of the following: "Wow, you must be really smart!" or "I could never do that - I'm bad at math."
Guess what? They're wrong on both counts. Being a math teacher doesn't say anything about how smart I am. And, no matter how much you struggled in school, you can learn to understand math - anyone can. Let's talk about why.
This summer I've been taking online professional development courses through Stanford University. One of the first things I learned in this class is that, despite what most people think, there's no such thing as a "math brain" or a "non-math brain." There may be a small percentage of the population who have brain dysfunctions that make it difficult to learn math, but outside of that, science has shown that everyone's brains have the same capability for mathematical calculation, visualization, and reasoning. Even if you failed every math class you took in high school and the phrase "quadratic formula" makes you want to run away screaming, your brain is just as capable of learning math as mine. However, believing that you had a non-mathy brain was likely a self-fulfilling prophesy. The teacher of my class, Jo Boaler, did a study on this. The more that students believe they are bad at math, the more they end up performing poorly. On the flip side, the more a student has a growth mindset and believes that they're capable of learning, even though it's difficult, the more likely they are to keep trying and perform well. (https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/06/theres-no-such-thing-as-a-maths-brain-its-your-attitude-thats-holding-you-back)
Another cool thing I learned in this class: making mistakes in math is actually good for you! Scientists took scans of people's brains as they worked on math, and they found something fascinating: when someone makes a mistake, a synapse fires in their brain - even before they know that it's a mistake. The subconscious struggle that takes place when you initially make the mistake causes your brain to develop neural pathways, more so than if you did everything perfectly. Just as a baby learns to walk by stumbling and falling down, your mathematical ability develops by making mistakes.
Finally, mathematical ability has nothing to do with intelligence. It may seem like it's the "smart people" who are able to succeed in math, but that's absolutely not true. What actually matters is hard work. Research has shown that when students are praised as "smart" in response to their work, they tend to respond by taking the easier option when given a choice for the next assignment - as if taking on a more challenging task will lead to them failing and being proved to not actually be "smart." On the other hand, if students are praised for their "hard work," they're more likely to take the more difficult option provided to them - they want to show that they will keep working hard! As a result, the students who are given the "hard work" praise end up learning and growing their mathematical ability significantly more than the "smart" ones.
So even if you have a history of struggling in math, don't sell yourself short. Remember that any brain can be a math brain - you just have to believe in yourself and work hard to learn what you need to know. And if you're struggling with a concept, remember that the struggle is a good thing - you're exercising your math muscles so that your brain will grow!
For more encouraging messages about how brain science shows that anyone can learn math, check out this video!
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxrPy1fjVU4[/embed]