In regards to Mathematics Awareness Month, some students speak out on their difficulties with the subject.
When Citlali Elena walked into Morton Hall for a statistics exam, the Morton lecture hall was filled and she felt so overwhelmed her hands began to shake.
As a freshman studying studio art, Elena is required to take a math course, but she had to drop the class because of the anxiety induced from the exam.
“It was really bad,” Elena said. “I was doing OK in the class, and when I got to the test, I couldn’t breathe. I took the test and forgot everything.”
Elena attributed the anxiety attack to the amount of people in the room. She said she was used to being in a room with about 20 or so people, but the large lecture hall was full. She added that the format of the test was also difficult to understand because it was more about reading data.
Arithmophobia is the general fear of numbers, but in some cases, it extends to the overall fear of an academic subject — math.
For some, math is easy. But for others, solving equations and understanding mathematical principles proves to be difficult.
Elena said she did not experience that math-induced panic until she came to college. In high school, she said she was an average math student and the highest level of math she took was trigonometry. Elena said she always knew she was not going to venture into a major that focused on math.
“I’m not too confident about my math skills,” she said.
Ohio University offers tutoring for those who have difficulties with math. The Math and Science Center offers free tutoring on 1000- and 2000-level math classes. The center is located on the first floor of Alden Library and is open by appointment or drop-in hours.
Clay Hartzler, a lead math tutor in the facility, said the center has a lot of students — especially non-math majors — who seek help in math-related subjects.
Hartzler said most of the students “stress out or have math-related anxieties,” and the center aims to help students cope and overcome their anxieties.
“A big part of (helping them cope) is teaching them to use their own resources in a more effective way,” Hartzler said.
Erik Boczko, a math lecturer, said he was not always good at math. He said he liked geometry in high school, but when he went to college he was not prepared.
Boczko said he failed calculus I and II twice in college. When he graduated, he decided to go back to grad school. That time, Boczko said he actually took his math classes seriously and felt more prepared.
Boczko said he sees the same patterns in some of his students. He said it is all about the attitude of the person. He has seen a correlation in a positive attitude and decent grades in the class.
“I didn’t want to put my full effort into math because I thought if I put my full effort into math and I still can’t figure it out, that must mean I’m stupid. ... That seems like a big obstacle for a lot of people,” Boczko said. “I don’t know that it’s universal, but it seems pretty universal.”
Ashley Andrews, a junior studying vocal performance, said she is good at basic math.
Her original choice of major, Andrews said, was music therapy. However, the statistics classes, which relied heavily on reading research papers and understanding the math behind the research, were one factor that contributed to her switching to vocal performance
“My experiences with math didn’t necessarily push me away from (pursuing) a field in math, but I couldn’t see myself succeeding in math,” Andrews said.
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She said she started to develop math-related anxiety when she started algebra II and precalculus in high school. She added that the scariest part of precalculus was memorizing the unit circle.
“When I was doing (math), I was more afraid of failing,” Andrews said. “My grade point average was everything to me and I could not wrap my brain around why I couldn’t understand (the subject).”
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