How to make students learn maths without fear

National Mathematics Day may come once a year but it serves as an important reminder for educators

National Mathematics Day – celebrated on December 22 in India – honours the legacy of a fascinating subject that has shaped our understanding of the universe through numbers, equations, and theorems on one hand and logic, problem-solving, and critical thinking on the other.

Maths, one of the top-scoring subjects in school, is both revered and hated in equal measure by adults long after completing their studies. Thus, we have two kinds of people: Those who love maths and excel at it, and those who struggle with the subject and fare poorly. In fact, it’s not uncommon to hear the latter brag about how bad they were at maths, as if it were a badge of honour.

I think, the main reason why millions of students in the world struggle with maths is because of an overwhelming fear of the subject, what is known as maths phobia or maths anxiety. The late Irish mathematician, Sister Mary de Lellis Gough, coined a term for it – Mathephobia.

The fear of maths, itself, is brought on by several factors including difficulty in understanding fundamental concepts, abstract symbols and procedures; focusing more on getting correct answers rather than on the process of solving the sums; the perception that you are not good at maths, and consequently, fear of making mistakes; expectations from family and peers; subpar teaching methods; and a lack of opportunities to apply maths in real time while learning, among other reasons.

Here are three ways in which schools can remove the fear of maths and make the subject an arena of fun, logic and beauty, as it should be.

1. Adopt the CPA (Concrete-Pictorial-Abstract) approach where schools use physical and visual aids to help students understand maths better. For example, students can learn to count by using counters, learn fractions by using actual parts of a circle or an apple and gradually move from these concrete objects to pictures to symbols.
   
   2. Make maths relatable by connecting it with real-life situations. From a young age, students must be taught how to count through the everyday concepts of buying and selling, as well as activities such as games and hands-on tasks. This will make learning maths fun for students and also give them experience of solving real problems.
   
   3. In a typical maths class, students are usually rewarded for solving problems correctly. If teachers are to bring maths alive for students, then they also need to appreciate the hours of practice the students put in or the way they worked out the sums, and not just the final outcomes. Reward them for effort, not just for getting it right!
   
   In a related context, the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) has rightly called for a transformation of maths education. Among other things, it has asked education boards and schools to
   move from intensive lectures and rote learning to interactive and creative learning methods, link textbooks and classroom activities to the students’ lives, and develop the subject in a way as to reflect India’s rich math history.
   
   National Mathematics Day may come once a year but it serves as an important reminder for educators, school owners and teachers to eliminate outdated teaching methods and negative perceptions, and nurture a generation of fearless and confident ‘mathematicians’. It is time to change maths education from a source of stress and anxiety to one of joyful learning.