Do you hate math?

[leahlovesdisney]

I find myself doing math in my head at the oddest times. It's a time killer when I'm bored

Cool, someone else does this too...I don't feel so alone anymore! I personally love math. Everybody thought/still thinks I was crazy. Before looking at this thread, I didn't really know that a lot of people like math.

 

[crazytp93]

as a teen, i can say i

HATE MATH MATH MATH!

 

[Micca]

I deSPISE it!!!

I was an incredible student, just couldn't get MATH without really applying myself. I skipped a grade, graduated from high school at 16 and had two college degrees by the time I was 20....

and I STILL could not GET math!!!!

Hey Robin-Over-achieve much?

I sucked at math all the way through school. Strangely, it started to click for me after I was out of school and needed math (just the basics) for my job.

 

[eeyore_08]

I could never even think about likeing math! haha i'm a reading person!

 

[Cool-Beans]

I enjoy math. It's easy. There is always an answer...unless you're a math genius working to prove a math theory.

People who think math is hard either had bad teachers or didn't bother trying. It is step by step. If you can learn to add 2+2, you can learn calculus. Just a matter of taking it one step at a time.

 

[ElizK]

How did I NOT see this thread earlier??!!!

I did vote, but I was looking for an option of...

"I hate, despite, and generally are sickened by MATH!!"

I am a 40-something woman and I have never gotten past hating math. In fact, I am a substitute teacher and I refuse to sub beyond the fourth grade level because I refuse to deal with the math!!

I am SURE that someday they will discover a dsylexia type of disorder that is MATH related.... and I have it!! I don't want to bore you with the details, but I JUST DON'T GET MATH!! And my engineer, math-brained husband just doesn't understand. Neither do my TWO math teacher SILs!! And my kids have NO problem with math.... in fact, DD is in an accelerated class! I am a total math idiot surrounded by math brainiacs! My husband also can't understand how I "get" abstract concepts in literature and art and such, but I can't understand concrete facts in math. Oh well. Good luck with this topic!...........................P

Actually, there is! It's called "dyscalculia". Here's a link:
http://www.learningabledkids.com/learning_disability_LD/dyscalculia.html

 

[ElizK]

I did not enjoy math in elementary(though I did ok in it), but loved algebra. So logical. Geometry, on the other hand... My brain does not do abstract. That was the lowest academic grade I received, and I was so proud to pass that class with a low C.

 

[chisnpeke]

I enjoy math. It's easy. There is always an answer...unless you're a math genius working to prove a math theory.

People who think math is hard either had bad teachers or didn't bother trying. It is step by step. If you can learn to add 2+2, you can learn calculus. Just a matter of taking it one step at a time.

I'm sorry but math IS hard for me. I have had good math teachers but it still just didn't click. The better teachers did help me get a better grade in math, but it is not my favorite thing.

I like it when I'm good at it. That's it. But I think it's rude of you to say that people didn't bother trying if they think it's hard...sometimes it is just HARD. Plain and simple.

 

[mirthmaiden]

unless you're a math genius working to prove a math theory.

It's a curse I tell ya

Just a matter of taking it one step at a time.

The trick is understanding which step to take. Yes, there is only one step to be taken at one time, but there are often several different operations to choose from. For example, when dividing fractions you must first flip the second fraction, then multiply across, then reduce to lowest terms. One step at a time, but if you don't know what the step is, you're still lost; and the textbooks don't usually give you an example of every possible scenario, so you have to be able to apply knowledge from one situation to another.

 

[slimplaw]

I can add, subtract, multiply and divide easily, but forget about anything else past these operations. I avoided math in college and have not had a math class since the 10th grade in high school. I was able to get a bachelor and master's degree without any math classes.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I have loved math since I first started learning about numbers. Now my son is in advanced math classes in HS and needs my help from time to time. My juices just start flowing again. Geometry gives me goose bumps.

 

[C.Ann]

"Regular" math I enjoy.. Algebra and beyond? Positivley hate it!

My son-in-law loves all kinds of math and is an absolute whiz with numbers.. Fortunately his DD (my 9 yr. old DGD) takes right after him..

My adult DD hates ALL forms of math..

 

[codygirl5150]

A couple of things here:

1. I'm assuming that if you have a 5 yr. old daughter this must be a college-level course. Please correct me if I'm wrong. It seems to me that the question you are asking is far too basic for a college course. I should think you would want to know by age group, gender, level of education, etc. All of these factors are going to influence your results.

2. Alot of research is available about girls and the decline in scores on math and science once they reach middle school.

3. There is a new book out there by Danica McKellar (Winnie from "The Wonder Years", if you remember that show) titled "Math Doesn't Suck". I haven't read it, but plan to buy it for my 11 yo daughter for Christmas. It has great reviews online: http://www.amazon.com/Math-Doesnt-S...6238058?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194370288&sr=1-1

It sounds like this book might have alot of information you might be looking for.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out!

Okay--here's the "skinny". Yes, I am a senior math major at the U of A, but I'm taking the required communications course COMM 1313. We have had to do an informative speech and now we are doing a persuasive speech, but they both have to be on the same subject.
My persuasive speech was on math education in the U.S., and about the third TIMSS (Trends in international math and science study in 2003--another is being conducted now with results available in Dec. 2007). This study (and many others) show that U.S. students score at the bottom when it comes to math, when compared to other industrialized nations. Its a very interesting report, read it if you have time! (One of the findings is the huge gender gap in the U.S.--males performed about 10% better than females in the U.S.)
So now my persuasive speech (next week) is going to be to convince my class that "Math is Cool". I know this isn't as "scientific" of a poll as I would use (say, for a senior thesis), but I was just wanting a general idea of a diverse populations' feelings about math in general. That's why I didn't get more specific.
Also, I had seen Danika McKellar on PBS talking about her book and the theory she proved. I was amazed! I think that is what inspired me to pick this subject for my speeches!
This is the first time I've checked this poll, so I was stunned to see so many responses! I figured this would be a hot topic--I know feelings about math are sometimes very strong, which I totally can identify with--even as a math major. (I don't like ALL math either--I still don't completely get the unit circle!) So thanks to everyone! Keep them coming! Good and bad, I love knowing what you all think!!!

 

[codygirl5150]

Here's a couple links that I used when I did the informative speech:

TIMSS 2003: http://timss.bc.edu/timss2003i/mathD.html

What the U.S. can learn from Singapore's World Class Math System...
http://www.air.org/news/documents/Singapore Report (Bookmark Version).pdf

They are very long, but so informative about what we could do to change the way are children are educated (and the way are instructors are educated as well) when it comes to math.

 

[yasmina]

Okay--here's the "skinny". Yes, I am a senior math major at the U of A, but I'm taking the required communications course COMM 1313. We have had to do an informative speech and now we are doing a persuasive speech, but they both have to be on the same subject.
My persuasive speech was on math education in the U.S., and about the third TIMSS (Trends in international math and science study in 2003--another is being conducted now with results available in Dec. 2007). This study (and many others) show that U.S. students score at the bottom when it comes to math, when compared to other industrialized nations. Its a very interesting report, read it if you have time! (One of the findings is the huge gender gap in the U.S.--males performed about 10% better than females in the U.S.)
So now my persuasive speech (next week) is going to be to convince my class that "Math is Cool". I know this isn't as "scientific" of a poll as I would use (say, for a senior thesis), but I was just wanting a general idea of a diverse populations' feelings about math in general. That's why I didn't get more specific.
Also, I had seen Danika McKellar on PBS talking about her book and the theory she proved. I was amazed! I think that is what inspired me to pick this subject for my speeches!
This is the first time I've checked this poll, so I was stunned to see so many responses! I figured this would be a hot topic--I know feelings about math are sometimes very strong, which I totally can identify with--even as a math major. (I don't like ALL math either--I still don't completely get the unit circle!) So thanks to everyone! Keep them coming! Good and bad, I love knowing what you all think!!!

Sounds like a fascinating course and assignment. Good luck!

Here's my opinion. Regular math - simple calculations, etc. I'm fine with. Algebra? Hah! Almost got kicked out of Honor Society because I got a C in it one grading period, plus I had the class bully sitting in front of me who tormented me horrendously and made it extremely difficult to learn. Geometry? Loved it! It was so logical and cool.

Algebra II was as far as I went in math, and that was a struggle for me.

I had a good friend in college who was a math, physics, and computer science major, but almost flunked German. Go figure! Oh, the great friendly arguments we had. He said that math was the universal language and that everyone could communicate using it. I responded to him by asking him how to say "I love you" in math. Hee, hee, I got him on that one!

 

[Camicar]

FWIW (and quickly, bec I could go on and on about this topic):

I was a math tutor throughout high school and college.

Therefore, it's pretty obvious that I like math and find it easy.

Here is my opinion based upon my experience:

At least 50% of students are not born with a math-oriented brain.
Another 25-35% of students are lost due to bad teaching and/or bad curriculcum.*
That leaves 15-25% of students who get math easily enough to overcome bad teaching/curricula. Of these 5% or less are gifted in math.

The problem is that math curricula are designed by the the very small % of people are gifted in math. Therefore they are designing it either according to what would work for them or what they believe would work for others which is often based upon false notions. And truthfully it can be very difficult to effectively teach higher math to a non-math brained person -- it's like trying to talk about colors to the color blind.

If you have a math brain it is very difficult to understand the way the others' brains work; in fact, I would venture to say that most math brained people simply do not even realize that other people's brains are wired differently. (I learned this inherent neurological difference from tutoring and from watching my very intelligent sister struggle mightily with math.)

In order to reach non-math brained people, a teacher needs to be very clear and tangible and flexible bec what works for one child will not work for another. Teaching concepts instead of tangibles is doomed to failure (one reason why New Math failed so miserably). Memorization of basic concepts is also absolutely necessary (which is why any math curricula that eschews memorization will end up with high schoolers who are failing math). You have to have the basics down before you can go farther. And finally, you have to have teachers who understand math -- when my dd's first grade teacher confessed that she really didn't understand first grade math, I could only wonder how the heck she had graduted high school, let alone college, let alone gotten her teaching certificate. With lax standards like that, no wonder math teaching is a disaster.

In summation, I am not entirely sure you would convince ME that math is fun for anyone other than the math-brained. It's like trying to convince me that softball is fun -- I cannot hit or catch a ball without a ton of practice and even then the odds are 50-50 that I'd actually be successful bec I have NO natural talent at the sport. We tend to find things fun when they are naturally enjoyable -- when we have to work hard at something with an uncertain chance of success it's highly unlikely that it will be fun.

In my experience, what did work very often in trying to make fun was music -- Multiplication Rock works for a reason.

* A current example of this was my dd's 4th-6th grade math curricula. My dd is close to gifted in math and yet she was failing it. I finally took over reteaching her the math concepts and skills myself at home when I realllly looked at the book and realized it was total crap. (for ex, they were teaching averages before they taught division. TOTAL CRAP.) When I taught her, she almost immediately grasped what she needed to do and had no problems. She went to school one day and every kid in the class but her failed the homework assignment. The teacher asked my dd to explain how she had gotten 100% on it and she got up to the board and showed them the old fashioned basic math I taught her and within 2 minutes at least 50% of the class was saying, "OH! I get it now." I know this for a fact bec her teacher called me up to beyotch me out for 'interfering' with her teaching methods. She actually 'forbid' me from teaching my dd in the evenings (even though she was the only kid who was passing!) I told her, "If your curriculum and techniques were effective, then you'd have a point. When all but one of your kids fails their homework every night, then you don't have a leg to stand on. Color me confused, but I thought the point of teaching was to actually help the kids learn." My dd ended up being the only kid who passed 4th grade math in her class. And the school is STILL teaching it the same way.