Mathematics Report Roundup

Math Anxiety

By Sarah D. Sparks — September 15, 2015 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

One-on-one mathematics tutoring may reduce anxiety in math-phobic students, finds a new study in the Journal of Neuroscience.

Stanford University researchers used individualized tutoring as a form of therapy, in which a phobic person is repeatedly exposed to something that scares them in a safe, controlled environment. The researchers tested 46 3rd graders on math anxiety. Then the children each had 22 tutoring sessions on addition and subtraction.

Arithmetic skills of all the students improved after tutoring. For highly math-anxious children, functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, scans also found lower brain activity afterwards in the amygdala, a part of the brain associated with fear and emotion.

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the September 16, 2015 edition of Education Week as Math Anxiety

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Assessment Webinar
Reimagining Grading in K-12 Schools: A Conversation on the Value of Standards-Based Grading
Hear from K-12 educational leaders and explore standards-based grading benefits and implementation strategies and challenges
Content provided by Otus
Reading & Literacy Webinar How Background Knowledge Fits Into the ‘Science of Reading’ 
Join our webinar to learn research-backed strategies for enhancing reading comprehension and building cultural responsiveness in the classroom.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Assessment Webinar
Innovative Strategies for Data & Assessments
Join our webinar to learn strategies for actionable instruction using assessment & analysis.
Content provided by Edulastic

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Mathematics Opinion Math Trauma Is Real. Here's How You Can Prevent It
When people hear I teach math, they often recount the one bad classroom experience that made them “check out” of math permanently.
Viveka Vaughn
5 min read
Image of a student with books in a huge classroom with equations everywhere.
iStock/Getty Images
Mathematics Spotlight Spotlight on Closing the Math Achievement Gap
This Spotlight will help you change students’ perspective of math, transform PD and instruction for math teachers, and more.
Mathematics Q&A How to Boost Students' Missing Math Skills and Still Stay on Grade Level
Teacher trainer Christina Tondevold shares ways to accelerate students' math learning to make up for skills lost during the pandemic.
4 min read
Images of math equations.
iStock/Getty
Mathematics Students' Data Literacy Is Slipping, Even as Jobs Demand the Skill
And fewer teachers report placing a “moderate” or “heavy” emphasis on the topic.
2 min read
Image of students working with data.
E+