Digital Photography
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Thursday, February 22, 2018
Digital Photography Week 2 - 6/12
Intro To Digital Photography
Web address to Week 2 Landscape photos:
Math or Anxiety? 5/12
1. Do you have math anxiety? If so, how has it affected you in the past?
Going by Deb Russell’s definition of math anxiety (Russel, 2010), I do not suffer from math anxiety. Although my poor teaching and poor experiences have put myself behind in achieving great grades in math, this is not because of the lack of effort in trying to be great or any math anxiety issues. Unfortunately, over the last nine years I have had very little math situations within my jobs and the math that is used can be done with a few simple presses on a calculator.
2. What stresses you out the most about taking a math class?
Just like every class I take in college there are things that consistently stress myself out. The main stress issue is wanting to be the best at everything I finish and turn in. Having my name attached to a project, paper, video, or any other piece of homework related material has to be done perfectly. This is where the stress can multiply since unlike those projects that are done in an opinion or backed by an outside source, math has for the most part a cut and dry answer to what is wrong and right.
3. Do you belong to the school of thought that “you can’t study for a math test?” Please explain.
I do belong to the school of thought that “you can’t study for a math test”. For the most part you cannot go from being a D+ student to an A+ student by just studying right before the test. I feel that you can refresh yourself on the topics before the test and prepare yourself better but the basic concepts and core problems are either already learned or not mastered yet before the test even begins.
4. Why do you think other people fear math and what steps do you think people could take to overcome this fear?
I feel that other peoples fear about math revolves around the amount of material needed to pass the math courses and the sheer volume of concepts learned throughout the math classes. Sometimes the level of difficulty can go from a 3 to a 9 on a 10-point scale just because it is too much, too soon for some individuals. People can overcome this fear by getting a tutor and asking questions at every point possible of the class and tutoring sessions to make sure they understand what is being asked.
5. What suggestions do you have for your classmates to reduce math anxiety and improve math study skills?
As I stated before, asking questions is very important to mastering the fear of math. I would suggest to my classmates that one way to reduce their math anxieties is to always be questioning what is being taught and what is being learned throughout the lessons.
In the terms of improving ones math skills, repetition is very important. By doing the math problems over and over again this is a great way to have the basic understandings down pat and truly know the math that would lie ahead.
6. What suggestions have you read in the articles that you found helpful to reduce math anxiety and improve math study skills? Please cite the source.
A suggestion that I read in Fleming’s article (Fleming, 2010) is to not make the math too complex. She recommends breaking down complex formulas and breaking them down into smaller “little parts”. I agree with this as most people know the smaller building blocks of the formula but sometimes get caught up in the large formula that is before them on the paper. By concentrating on the problem in smaller pieces this will help in improving any math anxieties and aiding in an improved study skill set as well.
Another suggestion that I found helpful is Fleming’s advice to not fall into a procrastination mindset (Fleming 2010). Devoting more than enough time towards the completion of assignments is something that I feel would help with any built up anxieties and procrastination study habits, which could derail the completion of the assignment and the quality of the work submitted.
7. Create a detailed study plan for the month to help you be successful. Summarize your plans in a short paragraph. Include the number of hours you plan to study each day/week and the days you have available as well as the resources you plan to use.
My study plan for the month would to be going through all of my ALEK’s pies and practice the material over and over again. I plan on going through all of my readings and ALEK’s pies in the first week of the class so I can spend more time on the harder and more difficult coursework later in the month. I plan on spending at least 20 hours a week on the material.
I will be starting a new job this week, so the days and exact hours spent on homework are unclear at this moment. Depending on if I am working days or nights, I will be working on any of my coursework on the opposite schedule. I plan on working on my coursework everyday and really sticking to my plan, as I want to improve my math skills and abilities. I actually am looking forward to this class and the opportunity for myself to master more math skills.
Sources:
Russel, Deb. About.com. 18 October 2010. Retrieved from http://math.about.com/od/reference/a/anxiety.htm
Fleming, Grace. About.com. 18 October 2010. Retrieved from http://homeworktips.about.com/od/mathhomework/a/mathanxiety.htm
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