Kashish Sharma
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Absoluteness of the grading system is the real culprit. Unlike language, mathematics looks at things in white and black, says expert
A student sits all prepared for the exam sheet to appear. They are appearing for their Mathematics examination. As the exam paper arrives, those numbers start looking unfamiliar and scary. Their brain goes blank and they become too terrified to move their pen. Numbers can become a source of fear. Math anxiety is more common than you can imagine. A person with this anxiety can get fearful on seeing numerals or while interacting with them. They find it hard to perform calculations in their head.
People affected by Maths phobia or anxiety can develop physical uneasiness on seeing numbers. They might experience tense muscles, increased heart rate, excessive sweating and other symptoms. They might also suffer from psychological discomfort resulting in low confidence and avoiding situations that might involve numbers.
Many studies have attributed math anxiety to past bad classroom experiences, societal stereotypes around mathematical abilities and learning disabilities like dyscalculia that causes difficulty in understanding numbers or performing mathematical operations like addition, subtraction and others.
Neelakantha Bhanu Prakash is known as the World's Fastest Human Calculator. He has earned four world records and 50 Limca records for solving complex mathematical problems at a remarkable speed. At the age of 17, Bhanu broke the world record of math legend Shakuntala Devi and is the first Indian to win the gold medal in Mental Calculation World Championship 2020 at Mind Sports Olympics (London). Known for his exceptional mathematical abilities and as an enthusiastic educator, Bhanu spoke to Health site to discuss the griming concept of math anxiety.
Bhanu explained math phobia as the fear of interacting with numbers that often translates into disturbing anxiety. He informed that math anxiety is more common than people might talk about it. He listed the broad reasons why Maths can be a source of aversion to some students.
He said: "The three major reasons that numbers can cause anxiety in children are the subject barely having any context in classrooms, inflexible curriculum standards, faulty teaching styles and a lack of empathy for learners."
By context, Bhanu referred to the question that why a child must care to understand the mathematical concepts. The lessons might be missing in establishing the journey and trajectory of numbers and how they have revolutionized humanity. Children might see them as only having some utilitarian value and only necessary for academic progression.
Bhanu explained that while assessing one's performance in mathematics, the focus is too much on the outcome for instance, the solution of a certain problem.
He said: "Absoluteness of the grading system is the real culprit. Unlike language, mathematics looks at things in white and black. It is either right or wrong. This inflexibility and outcome related approach is all likely to create fear in children."
He compared mathematical learning in school to a dictionary having stored words that one might be asked to memorize.
He said: "Imagine if I give you a dictionary and ask you to mug up all words. Think about it if I tell you that I will only talk when you memorize all the words in the dictionary."
Bhanu said that orthodox methods of teaching are a big hindrance when it comes to understanding mathematical concepts.
In a light note, Bhanu jokingly said that frowning mathematicians have contributed much to this anxiety. He narrated an example where a child who might be writing an essay full of grammatical errors while still being able to pass the test.
He said: "No child is scared of language because there is a human touch to it. While assessing a language assignment, a teacher might give some weightage to the thought that goes behind the articulation. A teacher there might understand that grammatical errors are just petty hindrances that in the larger picture might not be able to block the communication. The thought is poorly articulated but has developed nonetheless. In mathematics, great minds have left no scope for flexibility. You can either be right or wrong. Thus, Maths much like language has to be humanized."
The human calculator suggested that much like in language, the teaching system has to recognize and acknowledge the thinking process that might go behind solving a problem and grade it accordingly. The subject has to be humanized.
He said: "Mathematics must not be taken as a tool to solve something but an experience of its own."
Bhanu said that the best way to tackle math anxiety is to inculcate 'why' in place of what and how. He explained that many children don't understand the 'why' of mathematics. According to him, most people understand that leaning a language is crucial to communicate. However, in mathematics, too much focus is on the utilitarian aspect of it for instance, a standard number to achieve academic progression.
He said: "In order to love or not love something, you have to know it. Mathematics has been just limited to a bunch of facts or a subject at school. Most children are not shown the beauty of numbers. Not many children understand how beautifully numbers have quantified the world, how it is helping us in making money. They might fail to see how simple activities of our day like making a phone call or Netflix suggesting us a particular show is all governed by numbers."
While talking about the cognitive segmentation created between the artistic and logical people, Bhanu said that the two might not be different at all. He explained that how mathematical concepts are a fruit of creative minds. Giving example of Leonardo Da Vinci, he said that the great artist was among the few who had laid some important mathematical principles. He also said that the occurrence of 10 after 9 is not something natural or factual but it is as abstract as a painting or a poetry.
He said: "Artists often turn out to be great coders. Musicians see a pattern in music. They see things as methodically as a scientist."
Responding to the example of a child or an adult who might get anxious around calculating money exchange at a showroom counter, Bhanu said, that mathematical operations are not a race against time.
He said: "I have earned some titles but believe me it really doesn't matter how fast you might be with numbers. You can of course if you wish to be but even if you are not, there is no reason for feeling embarrassed or down. We all are capable of learning but walking is enough to carry out our tasks. Or let's say I know I can walk from Bangalore to Hyderabad but I don't necessarily have to if there is some means of transport. We aren't here for replacing calculators or computers."