Math Anxiety

Mathematics anxiety is more than just disliking math. Someone with math anxiety feels negative emotions when engaging in an activity that requires numerical or math skills.

This anxiety can literally cut off the working memory needed to learn and solve problems, researchers have discovered.

So if thinking about math -- let alone actually doing math -- stresses you out, you're not alone. The goal of this guide is to provide you access to resources that can help you become more confident and knowledgeable about math and successfully complete your math courses here at JCTC.

There are a number of erroneous beliefs about math, which contribute to students' fears and anxiety about math. Some of those myths include:

• Men are better in math than women. Research has failed to show any difference between the sexes in math ability.
• There is a best way to do a math problem. Most math problems can be solved a number of ways.
• Some people have a math mind and others don't. Most people are much more capable in math than they believe they are.
• It's bad to count on your fingers. Counting on fingers actually indicated an understanding of arithmetic.
• Those good in math do problems quickly in their heads. Even math professors review example problems before teaching them in class.

The Learning Commons offers tutoring for all MAT classes. You can learn more about tutoring on the website. Plus, there are pages that provide resources on math as well as study skills.