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Show Schoolrs and " Home fe J by ''4 Dr. Daryl J. McCarty Executive Secretary Utah Education Association Myths about math classes Maybe you've heard of the twin traumas afflicting many young people in our high schools and junior high schools. They're called "math anxiety" and "math avoidance," Frightened of math, many young people take as few classes in the subject as they can. According to Sheila Tobias, a specialist in the two troubles, certain mysteries and myths have some connection. For instance, she says most people think of mathematics aptitude as a gift, rather than as a set of skills that can be learned, practiced, and developed. That, she says, is myth. Some people believe that students who are skilled in mathematics do math instantly; find mental arithmetic easy; and come up with the correct formula or the right approach after a mere moment or two of thinking. When the non-skilled believer of that myth tries to do a math problem and doesn't come up with an immediate solution he or she is prone to panic and stop trying. Sheila Tobias says such students fail to "flounder constructively." That is, they don't try many different approaches in order to find the way to do the problem. A third myth, she says, is the idea that math is a male domain. Young women can and do become expert at math. Aside from the fact that people fear or sidestep math in school, there is one solid reason for college-bound students to work hard at developing math skill. Lucy Sells investigated the prerequisites and course programs at the University of California at Berkeley. She found that without three-and-a-half years of high school math, an entering student would find the doors to three-fourths of the college majors closed to them before they started college. If more students understand the myths about math, chances are it will deservedly become a more popular subject. |