Many students have a love/hate relationship with maths and those students who find it hard or boring often really struggle with finding the motivation to progress with their studies. There are some common reasons why students don’t enjoy maths, which can be easily rectified using the following tips:
Remove the Pressure to Need to Get it Right
In order to succeed in maths, it requires a lot of repeating questions and testing out different algebraic methods/techniques. Often, this means that students are having to make numerous mistakes to perfect their technique and to be able to apply it to different questions. For many students used to writing essays or doing other forms of school work which requires doing the question once and then moving on, this can be frustrating. High achieving students who often aren’t used to getting questions repeatedly wrong, can impact their confidence and result in them struggling to enjoy the subject.
Students must have the mental resilience to be able to make mistakes without feeling discouraged and unable to motivate themselves to continue. At Crescent Tuition, we offer resilience training courses to enable students to be equipped to bounce back from situations where they didn’t achieve perfection. The tuition is individually tailored to the student’s needs and delivered by an entirely qualified welfare officer in person or via an online platform.
Understand the Problem
Some students find that maths requires a lot of memorisation of processes and equations, yet they tend to overlook the problem-solving element. Instead of focusing on memorising the solutions which may be a more effective technique in other subjects, students need to understand what the problem actually is and why they are applying the solution, instead of just doing it! Students who rely heavily on memorisation will often have issues when the math question is adjusted to require them to think more creatively or abstractly. To help combat this students should aim to understand the reasons why the solution works and applies to the question.
Find the Practical Purpose
Many students look at formulas and equations and think about how is this relevant to my everyday life and future career. They are not excited to learn maths as they find it harder to connect to, finding it abstract and irrelevant. It is so important to link the theoretical concepts to real-life examples enabling students to understand the equations easier whether this is linking them to a building project, shopping and sale prices, baking or even making money and investing. By identifying the purpose and relevance of maths it will enable students to fully achieve their academic potential.
Are you Feeling Lost?
Different students have different processing times, therefore those that require extra time can often feel left behind and out of the loop with the rest of the class. If you are feeling left behind, reach out to the teacher to see if they can adjust the pace. Often they may not be able to take the extra time to review or practice due to the demanding nature of the syllabus. However, if this is the case it may be worth investing in a tutor. A tutor has the ability to adjust the pace of the lessons bespoke to the individual and also implement all the other tips outlined.
