getting over math phobia

[shootingstar]

I recognize my math skills aren't much simply because that's not my skill at area at all.

I view it for myself as not a phobia, but my natural, stronger skills are somewhere else outside of mathematics. After all, most of my siblings were taking university level courses in university applied science programs. That has always been my benchmark, since they seemed to pull off their high 90's in high school with more ease than I ever could.

I actually avoided taking any math courses in my final year of high school: simply because I knew that my university program and coursework choice was not going to be in the applied sciences at all.

Then for my graduate degree, I had to take a statistics course which was awful for me.

Anyway, badger I simply work abit harder over the years to balance and report on large annual operating budgets where I had signing authority, at least do basic departmental statistical analyses and generate the right Excel graphs, etc. Knowing what to do with the math, yes most definitely affects what I have been able to do in my jobs. Not a huge portion, but an important 10% since $$$ speaks volumes within any organization.

My tutor...is dearie..he did his engineering degree. But even he will say, that his accounting-economics course for his MBA, he didn't enjoy it . And this is from a person....in engineering.

You need to know math more because.....?

[Crankin]

I am a classic math phobic. I did well in elementary school, rote memorizing, but the the problem solving aspect of algebra and geometry, forget it. Back to the old spatial relations/perceptual issues. I was tutored through Algebra 1 (got a C-), did OK in geometry (B-), and barely made it out of Algebra 2. I had my only Ds and Fs in my whole life in a couple of terms of those courses. I took no math in college, except math for elementary school teachers (set theory?) and how to teach math. Then, I was in a doctoral program for a bit and had to take statistics. I got an A! Yes, it was statistics for social science people, but, it was still harder than hell. I was in an experimental group where we got to use a computer (1980) to do our calculations.
I avoid anything with numbers. It's too bad, because I really wanted to go into a quasi-medical field both back when I was in college and when I was looking to change careers, but my inability to do math and science held me back.
My kids went to a math/science oriented HS, not because it was really a math/science high school, but because there was a population there that excelled in those subjects and demanded more AP calculus than humanities. They were in "college prep" math, which meant the "dumb azz " level. Of course, in reality they had pretty good problem solving skills, but everyone else was going on to be engineers or such. I felt like their excellent writing skills were kind of devalued in this environment.

[marni]

I took four years of math in hs- all the way through calculus and trig but the only things that have stuck are some of the geometry about areas of shapes and some simple proportions, these are things that I have used and continue to use. As for the rest of it, I vaguely remember being in the class but...... Even fractions tend to give marginal results, but I am a whiz and adding and subtracting in my head.

marni

[channlluv]

Here you go: http://www.amazon.com/Math-Doesnt-Su...4736492&sr=8-1

This is the girl who played Winnie on The Wonder Years, all grown up, gorgeous, brilliant, and a summa *** laud grad in math something from UCLA. This book helped my daughter and me both, because I wanted to be able to help her with her homework.

McKellar has a couple more books, too, that I haven't read yet, but only because I didn't know about them until just now. I'm going to go order them.

Roxy



“Danica McKellar has a message for girls: Cute and smart is better than cute and dumb.”
— The Associated Press

“[A] fun and accessible resource to help spark undiscovered math abilities in girls.”
— Dr. Sally Ride, first American woman in space

“McKellar is probably the only person on prime-time television who moonlights as a cyberspace math tutor.”
— The New York Times

[smilingcat]

When math becomes counter-intuitive, I get to hate it.

Statistics always drove me bananers... Classic problem is "Lets make a deal" problem. Three doors to pick your winning. Hopefully, the one you pick is the winner and not the dud. You pick one of three doors and Monty shows you one of the losers. And he asks "do you want to switch or stay with the door you chose?" The question is should you switch or stay with your original choice? does it make a difference?

Ans: If you stay with your original decision, your chance of winning is only 1/3. If you switch, your chance of winning goes up to 1/2 or is it 2/3.

go figure...

I went over this with people who have graduate degrees in semiconductor physics from Cal Tech, Stanford and other elite schools. It took a while before they realized yes its better to switch.

[Veronica]

I'm part of a math grant in my district with a focus on really helping the students understand what's going on in math, not just memorizing algorithms. Why is one tenth times one tenth equal to one hundredth? Why is one half equal to two fourths? That sort of thing. We're in our second year, so it's hard to see if it's making a difference yet. I know it's made math a bit more fun.

Veronica