Article #6 How do we currently understand and
treat maths anxiety and how can it be
improved?
How do we currently
understand and
treat maths anxiety
and how can it be
improved? Abstract
Maths anxiety is the feeling of anxiety that one cannot perform
efficiently in situations that involve mathematics and can lead
to sever difficulties in later life, such as dealing with household
bills and many jobs requiring some amount of maths daily. Most
research covering the topic covers the development of maths
anxiety by rote learning in the early stages of mathematical
development, leading to a gap in essential mathematical
knowledge in later years. This paper shall also cover some current
methods of treating maths anxiety and theorise new avenues
to be explored, specifically a more targeted method than other
approaches.
Author: Luke
Lakshman Glyndwr
Clarke Jones
Keywords: maths
anxiety, rote
memorisation,
knowledge chasms,
confidence
Maths anxiety is the feeling of anxiety that one cannot perform
efficiently in situations that involve the use of numerical
calculations. The DSM5 (Diagnostic Statistical Manual, 5)
considers maths anxiety to be a specific phobia (American
Psychiatric Association, 2013) as it constitutes a marked fear or
anxiety about the specific object or situation: mathematics.
The alternate psychiatric guide, the ICD-10, considers maths
anxiety to be a generalised anxiety disorder (World Health
Organisation, 2004) with symptoms such as apprehension, motor
tension and autonomic over activity (light-headedness).
A similar condition to maths anxiety is dyscalculia, which is
a selective and innate inability to acquire or learn arithmetic
(Reed and Warner-Rogers, 2009). These conditions present in a
similar way, despite having very different causes as dyscalculia
is currently understood to be caused by a difference in brain
structure or function concerning the areas of the brain associated
with mathematics (Wilson, 2007). This could lead to early
failure at maths, and subsequent maths anxiety, or due to the
comorbidity (when multiple psychological conditions occur
together frequently) with maths anxiety, leading to a misdiagnosis.
Because, in the United Kingdom, a diagnosis of dyscalculia allows
students extra time in exams whereas maths anxiety does not, it
is practical for those with maths anxiety to receive an incorrect
diagnosis for the advantages of reducing test anxiety when faced
with a maths exam.
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