Grappling with a Big Math Mystery: The Key Difference between Mathophobes and Mathophiles
A new assignment this year teaching middle and high school students in a new school in a new state has reinforced many of my long-held thoughts about two fundamental types of math students: 1) those who think they can’t do math without lots of help and 2) those undaunted to try, who see problem solving in math as an extension of problem solving in other arenas. Painting in broad stokes, we might label these two types of students mathophobes and mathophiles, and the neurological, psychological, and performance differences between them are striking, fascinating, and perplexing. Equally striking, fascinating, and perplexing […]
