Reviewing an Old Subject: Math Anxiety

We are all too familiar with the flushed and fidgety student who is frustrated daily by the tortuous rigors of a mathematics class. For forty to forty-five minutes each day, this student cannot seem to do anything right. Even simple calculations are incorrect; everything becomes a jumble; her mind goes blank, and she is convinced that there is absolutely no way she can pass this mathematics test! Furthermore, the students with the most serious problems are those for whom their “math anxiousness” pervades other classes to the extent that they are failing two or three courses and are put on academic probation by the school.