Study: Teachers Instill Fear of Math in Girls

[Supertrek32]

Not trying to be a grammar-nazi, but I found it amusing that most of the responses to an academic-related thread had really bad grammar...

Also, while xaira's comment was a bit too broad, I'd agree that if you have anxiety about 2nd grade math, you shouldn't be teaching.

 

[Guest]

17 teachers were assessed!!! From this they draw a conclusion about all female math teachers. Who taught these people statistics? Morons that publish articles like this should be banned from all scientific research of any kind.

 

[matt87_50]

there is also the problem of:
its considered acceptable and even 'hip' to be bad a maths, but the opposite is true for language.

it is worrying that the stereo type would still exist that women are 'bad' at maths, something that is clearly being the influence on girl's scores, their female teacher being anxious would just confirm this to them.

however, like anything, it's still true that cirtain types of people will take to maths more naturally than others. same is true (allthough I belive to a lesser extent) for language.

 

[moomooman]

My Maths teachers instilled a fear of teachers, not Maths...

Me -"I dont understand"
Teacher -"Pay attention!" -Smack - Smack

 

[anamaniac]

[citation][nom]frozenlead[/nom]Honestly, if my schedule were filled with liberal arts classes, I'd probably quit school. Math-based classes just make sense to me. Gotta love being an Engineer.[/citation]
Amen.
I didn't take calculus in high school and every science course at once (instead of grade 11/12 general science, grade 11/12 bio + physics + chem).
Mathematics holds all the true answers in life. Physics is the most accurate application of mathematics. Chemistry assists physics, and biology just helps me understand that I need more fibre in my diet. =D

History ain't my thing, I'm not interested in lingering on the past, I'd rather advance on the future.
Language arts (and the such) bore me also. My communication skills are good enough to get my point across.


In my advance mathematics classes, half of the students were female. Granted, the males were the best. Had one guy who should be working at NASA before he hits 21.

I honestly do find that mathematics can be a frighening and confusing subject to woman (after trying to help some fellow students), and most of it can be blamed at past teachers.

 

[hack__you]

[citation][nom]gaevs[/nom]BTW, i'm a boy.. well a man.. and i suck in math..[/citation]

with a name like gaevs, it's hard to take your word that your a boy...or a man

peace

 

[r0x0r]

I liked Maths, but I would have been even more interested if they used real-world applications, such as "Maths and the stock market".

Of course, no one would teach that class because they'd be making money in the stock market instead of putting up with schoolkids on a crappy salary.

 

[IncinX]

Math has always been easy for me. I attribute math and other subjects to natural aptitude. I would consider it also being attributed to how the kids are raised (although I am less convinced of this). It seems more about natural aptitude if you look at how men in history have generally been hunters and women generally nurtures. I am not saying this is always the case but it should raise a few eyebrows. Based on the low amount of women I have seen in technical fields (like engineering) and high amount of women I have seen in social fields (like teaching), I would assume that it comes down to the primal differentiators between men and women.

As for hating subjects, some kids need to just suck it up and do it. I hate writing essays but I still got it done.

 

[theubersmurf]

I was a math/physics major as an undergrad, and a math tutor for other undergrads who were non-majors. One of the biggest things I realized while tutoring was that most of the people who claimed to be bad at math (and it seemed like a huge percentage of those who did were female) largely had a confidence problem. Much of the time, if I could get them to become more confident, their problems went away. I usually told my "students" this, and it went a long way to getting them over this hurdle a lot of the time...Honestly I think the reinforcement by others who are similarly not-confident about their math skills was the largest culprit (People commiserating about how "hard" math is). But this isn't anything like a study obviously, it's my experience with being a math tutor.

 

[bamslang]

As IncinX mentioned, I too would contribute a persons math ability to both natural aptitude and partially to their upbringing (granted less on the second). I've always excelled at math and I remember how my mother instilled an interest in math at a young age. I had a 30 min drive to school when i was young and we would go over math and other school related problems along the way. By 5th grade I was learning math I wouldn't use in school till i was in highschool.

I also agree with theubersmurt with the fact that a lot of the problem occurs with confidence. I tutored a few friends throughout highschool and college and I often found that they would pick up on things A LOT faster once they finally get past their fixation on "I'm not good at math," and actually started commiting to learning it. At somepoint, someone tells these kids they just aren't good at math and they use that as an excuse for the rest of their life.

 

[kraken18]

Yet another study filled with vague embellishments, vainly attempting to prove that biology is caused by education.

 

[kraken18]

Ok, I admit it, I wrote a knee jerk reaction to the headline before reading the article. lol...

Anyway, all this shows is that girls are more empathetic/sympathetic and has nothing to do with their mathematical ability.

 

[sliem]

Where was this study performed? Not in asia for sure. Asians (Students in Asia, not race) are awesome at Math.

 

[godnodog]

[citation][nom]tat2demon[/nom]WTF does this have to do with tech news?[/citation]

Dude!!! No maths no high tech!!!

 

[godnodog]

Forgot to write the rest of my post,lol

Everytime someone get´s scared of maths, we are loosing the chance of someone in the future of providing a solution/cure/advancement in any given area of science investigation.

I wish my teachers had answered me when I asked them what was all this "nasty math" good for?

 

[d_kuhn]

Yea girls are really having a hard time in school... only nearly 2/3 of college students are girls, and they sometimes are held back (though boys are 50% more likely to fail a grade), and some of them are on Ritalin (though there are about 3 boys on it for every girl), and some of them drop out of school (although boys are a third more likely), and some of them commit suicide (although a lot more boys do than girls).

Yup... we really need to spend some more money on girls cause if they get much worse they may have it as bad as boys do now... and we can't have that.

 

[jfem]

Interesting

 

[Guest]

Math is the universal language. American's are very sadly "proud" to brag that they "suck at math" and/or "hate math". How many Americans like to say they "can't read" and/or hate language. It is not just teachers who have helped our youth develop their negative opinions, but all adults who continue to plant the seeds and then help them grow with commiseration! A very sad state for the future of America.

 

[Guest]

l like mathematics, its my best subject

nancy