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Math and Anxiety: What’s the Connection and What Do We Do About It?

Learn how Winston Prep helps students overcome math anxiety.

What is Math Anxiety?

Sister Mary Gogh first explored math anxiety in 1954, using the term “Mathemaphobia”.

A few decades later, Sheila Tobias, a top researcher in the field, defined math anxiety as “panic, helplessness, paralysis, and mental disorganization.”

With modern technology, we can now see what is actually happening in the brain of math-anxious people. When facing a math problem, the amygdala reacts right away. It prepares the brain for a high-stress, fight-or-flight response.

It has also been found that brain regions associated with fear and pain light up in those with math anxiety when faced with a math problem. This often happens before a student can use their knowledge and resources to solve the problem.


Changing Attitudes Toward Math

In a supportive learning environment that addresses math anxiety, students feel confident to take on what once felt difficult.

 
Liana Pena - WPSNY 2027

Two students from our New York campus illustrate how math once made them feel.

Charlie Bennett - WPSNY 2027

Beyond Math Skills

Mathematical thinking takes resilience, patience, reflection, self-regulation, and flexibility. These are skills that are inaccessible when an individual is experiencing a fight-or-flight response.

Students also need two key skills to think mathematically: working memory and number sense. Yet, we know that when students are feeling anxious these skills are much less accessible when they need them most. 

It's also been found that individuals with math anxiety are less reflective in their thinking and cognitive processes overall, not just in math.

How We Think About Math Anxiety

At Winston Prep, we see math anxiety as a growth opportunity. This is closely tied to our explicit work in developing the Qualities of a Sustainable and Independent Learner (QSIL).

Many facets of the QSIL, particularly self-regulation, resilience, problem solving, and self-advocacy, are the building blocks of strategies students must develop to respond effectively to math and cultivate a mathematical thinking mindset.



Breaking the Cycle of Math Anxiety

There have been several approaches proven to be effective in supporting those with math anxiety.

A few key approaches are:
  • Practicing mindfulness 
  • Developing self-regulation 
  • Focusing on developing a growth mindset 
  • Applying structured, reflective journaling 
  • Cognitive Tutoring, which relies on a teacher’s deep understanding of cognitive processes. These processes affect how a student thinks and solves math problems.

Winston Prep instructors integrate these types of interventions directly into academic and social-emotional programming. We use the Cognitive Tutoring approach in all aspects of remediation. Linking our deep understanding of a student’s learning profile to our remediation approach is foundational to our programming model.

Another example is how we explicitly strengthen self-regulation. Instructors might teach, model, and guide students using the RULER strategy. This helps students notice and manage their automatic emotional response to math. It also helps them refocus on the math problem at hand. At Winston Prep, this happens in students’ one-to-one Focus class and in their math classes.

Supporting our students as they manage emotions toward math is as important as the math itself.


With this approach, students often open their minds to new math identities and mindsets. This opens the door to learning and mastering math thinking skills. In other words, this approach makes the impossible feel possible.

Though important for each of our students, this is especially vital for math-anxious students, given how limiting math anxiety is to learning and demonstrating mathematical knowledge.


Explore Our Approach at Winston Prep

Are you interested in learning more about Winston Prep's learning methodology and approach to remediation? Learn more at winstonprep.edu/what-we-do.
 

References

Artemenko, C., Daroczy, G., & Nuerk, H.-C. (2015). Neural correlates of math anxiety – an overview and implications. Frontiers in Psychology, 6. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01333

Ashcraft, M. H., & Kirk, E. P. (2001). The relationships among working memory, math anxiety, and performance. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 130(2), 224–237. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.130.2.224

Bonanno, G. A. (2021). The end of trauma: How the new science of resilience is changing how we think about PTSD. Basic Books.

Daly, I., Bourgaize, J., & Vernitski, A. (2019). Mathematical mindsets increase student motivation: Evidence from the EEG. Trends in Neuroscience and Education, 15, 18–28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tine.2019.02.005

Eidlin-Levy, H., Avraham, E., Fares, L., & Rubinsten, O. (2023). Math anxiety affects career choices during development. International Journal of STEM Education, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-023-00441-8
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