Telling Math: Origins of Math Aversion and Anxiety

Abstract Existing empirical research on math aversion and anxiety is examined to determine the prevelance of negative dispositions toward math. The main characteristics of math instruction in American elementary schools are described using results from our observations in fifth-grade classrooms as well as other published descriptive studies. In contrast to other school subjects (e.g., social studies which we also observed and describe briefly), math instruction provides students with only one route to learning: teacher explanation followed by student practice. Other routes, such as cooperative learning with peers, use of manipulative and concrete materials, and genuinely instructional textbooks are not usually available to elementary math students. A strong link is proposed between the instructional conditions students repeatedly experience in elementary school and their later attitudes, expectations, and conceptions of math learning.