Math Anxiety?!
Rheann Spier
If you've ever felt overwhelmed when working on math homework or discouraged from even getting started because you're "not a math person," you might be starting to experience math anxiety. Math anxiety is extreme nervousness surrounding the thought of doing math or working through math problems. It's very common with students in college settings because they think that since they aren't a math person or haven't worked with more than basic math for a while, they can't do math at all. Luckily, this is not the case! Studies have shown that math anxiety can lead to students doing poorly, which increases the math anxiety, and further reduces the students' ability to do math. While researchers might not know whether one causes the other, getting out of this cycle can be the first step to improving your ability to do math of all levels, from adding and subtracting fractions to solving quadratic equations!
When tackling a math class, remember that math anxiety is not just in your head, it's affecting your brain chemistry. Some scientists have determined that having math anxiety can take up part of the working memory storage needed for completing math problems. Working memory allows people to hold more than one piece of information in their mind at the same time, but if some of that attention is being occupied by nervousness about how well they're doing at that subject, it isn't being utilized to actually solve the problem. This can definitely be seen if you've ever looked at a problem you've done before and start worrying about why you can't get it now so much that you can't even remember how you started it in the first place. It can even be seen when you work through a problem and get stuck on the basics of the question, like adding or multiplying, and start panicking so much that you can't start on the new material you've learned. Rather than thinking that this is just a "you" problem, think of it as systematic: something is preventing you from working to your best abilities, and there are ways to work around it.
Here are a few things to remember the next time you feel yourself starting to panic:
Mistakes are okay!
Focus on understanding, not memorization.
Questions!
Mindful breathing.
Practice! Practice! Practice!
If you think you're struggling with math anxiety, the Learning Center is here to help with the math, and we can direct you to people who can help with the anxiety. You're not alone in your struggles, and no question is too small!
If you've ever felt overwhelmed when working on math homework or discouraged from even getting started because you're "not a math person," you might be starting to experience math anxiety. Math anxiety is extreme nervousness surrounding the thought of doing math or working through math problems. It's very common with students in college settings because they think that since they aren't a math person or haven't worked with more than basic math for a while, they can't do math at all. Luckily, this is not the case! Studies have shown that math anxiety can lead to students doing poorly, which increases the math anxiety, and further reduces the students' ability to do math. While researchers might not know whether one causes the other, getting out of this cycle can be the first step to improving your ability to do math of all levels, from adding and subtracting fractions to solving quadratic equations!
When tackling a math class, remember that math anxiety is not just in your head, it's affecting your brain chemistry. Some scientists have determined that having math anxiety can take up part of the working memory storage needed for completing math problems. Working memory allows people to hold more than one piece of information in their mind at the same time, but if some of that attention is being occupied by nervousness about how well they're doing at that subject, it isn't being utilized to actually solve the problem. This can definitely be seen if you've ever looked at a problem you've done before and start worrying about why you can't get it now so much that you can't even remember how you started it in the first place. It can even be seen when you work through a problem and get stuck on the basics of the question, like adding or multiplying, and start panicking so much that you can't start on the new material you've learned. Rather than thinking that this is just a "you" problem, think of it as systematic: something is preventing you from working to your best abilities, and there are ways to work around it.
Here are a few things to remember the next time you feel yourself starting to panic:
Mistakes are okay!
- Educause says it best: "failure is neither a setback nor an outcome, but rather an indication that more work is needed to master the skill or knowledge at hand." If you make a mistake, that gives you a chance to look over the problem, figure out how you made a mistake, fix the problem, and work similar problems to improve your ability to do those types of problems in the future!
Focus on understanding, not memorization.
- Studies have shown that students who solely use memorization in math classes tend to do worse than students who try to understand the material. The goal is not to be able to just use formulas that are given to you, it's to look at those formulas and concepts and be able to apply them to "out of the box" situations.
Questions!
- Give yourself some time to ask questions instead of rushing to complete the homework as quickly and perfectly as possible. You don't need the answer immediately, and sometimes, it helps to ask someone to explain the question from a different perspective. If you don't understand something, seek out help instead of trying to force your way through the material anyways.
Mindful breathing.
- If you are feeling incredibly overwhelmed and need a break, practice some mindful breathing to get back into a calmer headspace. Try the 4-5-6 method! Inhale through your nose for four seconds, hold for five seconds, and exhale through your mouth for six seconds. This brings your breathing back to normal, and it can help slow your heart rate after your anxiety took hold.
Practice! Practice! Practice!
- If you're having trouble with one type of problem, find similar examples, or rewrite the problem with different numbers to get the hang of it. Practice questions until you really feel you understand what you're talking about and get even teach someone else the material if you wanted to. Try harder problems to get into the groove of how you would work yourself out of them:
- What's the first step you would take? What comes next?
- What strategies can you think of that will help you? Remember, there is more than one way to solve a problem! If you can't solve the problem the way that the professor tells you, look into alternative methods, or come visit the Learning Center to find ways that might help the information stick.
- How can you apply what you know to what you don't know?
If you think you're struggling with math anxiety, the Learning Center is here to help with the math, and we can direct you to people who can help with the anxiety. You're not alone in your struggles, and no question is too small!
Writer's Block
Lisa Haag
Do you ever feel discouraged when you start a new writing assignment because you have no idea what to say? You may have no ideas, struggle with too many ideas, or dislike your ideas. This is happens all the time and is called writer’s block. Writer’s block is the result of anxiety caused by your inner critic who expects perfection on the first draft. The key to beating writer’s block is getting past that critical inner voice.
Strategies
1. Freewrite: Write for ten minutes without stopping, just to get some ideas flowing. Don’t worry about grammar, punctuation, or anything else. Just keep writing.
2. Cluster: Graphically cluster ideas, subtopics, and details. Here is an example:
2. Cluster: Graphically cluster ideas, subtopics, and details. Here is an example:
3. Journal: Write journal entries about your assignment, its purpose, how you feel about it, and any ideas you may have, even if you don’t like them.
4. Talk It Out: Talk about ideas you have on the topic with someone else or into a recorder. Ask yourself or have someone else ask you questions about your topic. Often, you will say something unexpected, and it will be the beginning of a thesis for your paper.
5. Begin In the Middle: If you know something you want to say, write a body paragraph first, just to get started. One idea may lead to another. You can always write the introduction last.
6. Create a specified time to write: Show up and start writing at a certain time every day to develop a routine.
7. Try the Pomodoro technique:
4. Talk It Out: Talk about ideas you have on the topic with someone else or into a recorder. Ask yourself or have someone else ask you questions about your topic. Often, you will say something unexpected, and it will be the beginning of a thesis for your paper.
5. Begin In the Middle: If you know something you want to say, write a body paragraph first, just to get started. One idea may lead to another. You can always write the introduction last.
6. Create a specified time to write: Show up and start writing at a certain time every day to develop a routine.
7. Try the Pomodoro technique:
- Pick a time to start your paper.
- Set a timer for 25 minutes and start writing
- When the time rings, take a 5 minute break
- Repeat steps 2-3
- Every four cycles, take a 25 minute break.
Defeat Distraction: 6 Tech Tips
Denise Walker
Momentum
Momentum is an app that helps you to eliminate distractions and find your focus. It offers daily inspiration and tools to help you track progress and reach goals. You can replace a new tab page with a personal dashboard featuring a to-do list, weather, and inspiration. Extensions are available for Google Chrome, Edge, and Firefox.
Pomodoro Assistant
A time management assistant that allows you to do the following:
myHomework
This app helps students at any level improve their organization; track assignments, projects, tests and more; track classes; and receive due date reminders. It also syncs across devices, so you can easily access your classes and assignments anytime and anywhere. You also can import from Canvas to myHomework.
Trello
Trello is another free productivity and task management app to help you get organized. This app is a collaboration tool that helps you organize your to-do list, projects, and other lists onto "cards" and "boards." This app is just for mobile devices: Android or iOS.
Rewordify.com
Rewordify.com is a powerful, free, online software that improves reading and learning. This site can do the following:
Instapaper
With one click, Instapaper lets you save, read, and manage the things you find on the Internet, which is great for research. It also syncs the articles and videos you save so that they’re waiting for you on all your devices. With Instapaper, it's easy to find that great quote you want to use in a paper, then use the easy highlighting feature and make a comment right on the article.
Momentum is an app that helps you to eliminate distractions and find your focus. It offers daily inspiration and tools to help you track progress and reach goals. You can replace a new tab page with a personal dashboard featuring a to-do list, weather, and inspiration. Extensions are available for Google Chrome, Edge, and Firefox.
Pomodoro Assistant
A time management assistant that allows you to do the following:
- Schedule short & long breaks
- Configure a toolbar with a countdown timer
- Track your Pomodoro history & stats
- Configure long break intervals
- Configure timer durations
- Set desktop & tab notifications
- Personalize audio notifications with over 20 sounds
- Enable ticking timer sounds
- Schedule automatic timers
myHomework
This app helps students at any level improve their organization; track assignments, projects, tests and more; track classes; and receive due date reminders. It also syncs across devices, so you can easily access your classes and assignments anytime and anywhere. You also can import from Canvas to myHomework.
Trello
Trello is another free productivity and task management app to help you get organized. This app is a collaboration tool that helps you organize your to-do list, projects, and other lists onto "cards" and "boards." This app is just for mobile devices: Android or iOS.
Rewordify.com
Rewordify.com is a powerful, free, online software that improves reading and learning. This site can do the following:
- Intelligently simplify difficult English for faster comprehension
- Effectively teach words for building a better vocabulary
- Help improve learning outcomes
Instapaper
With one click, Instapaper lets you save, read, and manage the things you find on the Internet, which is great for research. It also syncs the articles and videos you save so that they’re waiting for you on all your devices. With Instapaper, it's easy to find that great quote you want to use in a paper, then use the easy highlighting feature and make a comment right on the article.