If students are given the opportunity to vote out a subject out of their curriculum, which subject do you think will be voted out most? It is definitely Mathematics. Most Students find it hard to understand the subject Mathematics so they hate it. Why some hate Mathematics and so they don’t understand it. I have come across so many different types of students and as a student I have Identified some reasons why most students perform poorly in Mathematics. I will try to explain some of these reasons as best as I can.

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The Believe in Innate Ability
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So many people believe that there are some students born with a kind of mathematical talent and others cannot succeed in Mathematics because they don’t have this ability. This has been proven wrong through recent discoveries on how our brain learns. It has been discovered that how brain is not hard-wired. Our brain continues to change and also develop throughout our lifetime. When we learn steadily and incrementally we can develop new abilities. As Philip E. Ross as pointed out in his article, “The Expert Mind”, he said:

“ The preponderance of physcological evidence indicates that experts are made not born.What is more is demonstrated in the ability to turn a child quickly into an expert—in chess, music and a host of other subjects-sets a clear challenge before the schools”

Nobody is born with the ability to play chess, nobody is born with the ability to solve Math questions- although some people learn faster than others, it doesn’t mean that others too cannot learn. So, whether one will understand Mathematics or not is not innate. It is a matter of learning mathematics the right way.


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Stooping low before Mathematics
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Most students think of mathematics too highly- they see it as a subject meant for people not like them. They have develop a kind of ‘fear’ for the subject. This fear may have been induced by what their seniors or teachers have told them. For example, when it comes to word problems in Mathematics, most students come to the classroom the first day with the thought that, ‘Word problem is difficult to understand, my sister told me she never understood it when she was in school’. Some say,’ I hate word problems’. Most students don’t believe they can understand mathematics, they say or think , ’Mathematics is too difficult’, ‘I hate Mathematics’. Because they have been pre-programmed before the Math class that they cannot understand Mathematics so they don’t understand Mathematics.

If you believe you can’t then you can’t.


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It is not all about formula
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Most students believe that Mathematics is all about cramming formulars, so they cram the formulars but are disappointed when they fail. Battista in 1999 defined Mathematics, he said


“Mathematics is a form of reasoning. Thinking mathematically consists of thinking in a logical manner, formulating and testing conjectures, making sense of things, and forming and justifying judgments, inferences, and conclusions. We demonstrate mathematical behavior when we recognize and describe patterns, construct physical and conceptual models of phenomena, create symbol systems to help us represent, manipulate, and reflect on ideas, and invent procedures to solve problems”.


Although Mathematics involves knowing formulars it is not only about formulars. It involves having conceptual understanding of the Mathematical principles. You should be able to reason with what you learn.


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Laziness on the part of the students
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To be sincere with ourselves, most students today are lazy, as I stated in my book, “Who told you ‘you are a dullard’”,

‘There is a of attractions that have become distractions to many young dreams’
Most students do not take time to read , rather they chat, watch movies, play games and waste their time. The fact is to become dull or brilliant is a matter of choice. You can choose to be dull or brilliant. But most students are choosing subconsciously to be dull.


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Archaic Method of teaching Mathematics
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Most schools especially in rural areas use old methods for teaching Mathematics. With the advancement in technology that we have now, we need to integrate teaching with technology. Most students can spend hours with their mobile phones or laptops, but find it difficult to spend time reading their books. I am not saying that the Educational System is responsible for the unseriousness of the students, I am just suggesting that they should make learning enjoyable for students. This is one major reason why samimath.com was created: ’To make students fall in love with Mathematics’, we will try with the programming languages we know to make Learning Mathematics enjoyable by creating games, puzzles and computer based tests.

Also, with our discussion forums, students will come to love Mathematics when they discuss what they learn with others. Since Research shows that no matter how one reads, after 2 weeks, one can only remember only 10% of what was read, 70% of what we discuss and 90% of what we experience or do.


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Weak Mathematical foundation
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Most students lack the basics of Mathematics, for example, even some students in Senior High School 3 find it hard to solve a question like -89-26+8. Learning Mathematics like any other subject is incremental; you have to build on a previous knowledge. What will happen if the previous knowledge is not there? It means you are building on nothing, so the building falls. To understand mathematics make sure you study the fundamentals.

For example, if you are a student in Senior High School, you should still be revising your Junior High School topics and if you are a student in Junior High School or Basic Class make sure you take your studies very seriously because you are just building your foundation.


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In conclusion
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Mathematics like other subjects is understandable, your mindset greatly influences your result. If you believe you cannot do well in Mathematics, then you will not do well- you will make it a self-fulfilled prophecy. Learning requires effort, you cannot expect to understand Mathematics without doing anything, try to create an action plan that will help you understand mathematics. And also, try to know your fundamentals, start ‘falling in love’ with Mathematics. Don’t shy away from what you don’t know, but try to know them. If You do these things you will come to realize that Math is fun.

We wish you good luck.

SOURCE: http://samimath.com/199/