Adventures in Math: How to Level Up Your Math Game
RESEARCH SAYS Effort Is Everything In her book Mindset psychologist Carol Dweck described two mindsets fixed and growth A fixed mindset is a belief that we are born with set abilities and talent and can't do much to change them A growth mindset is a belief that through effort and perseverance we can get better A growth mindset means that when you learn something new and don't quite understand it you say to yourself I don't understand yet This gives you the confidence to work on it to trust that it will get easier even though it's hard right now Words are important As Carol said the word yet can be very powerful Students who believed intelligence can change did better on all three areas reading science and math of an international test administered by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development How can we develop a growth mindset One way is through stories In one study researchers had two groups of students read stories about mathematicians The difference was the message in the stories One group of students read about the natural genius of mathematicians and their great achievements Afterward these students didn't think they could improve their math abilities They felt they either knew their stuff or didn't They had adopted a fixed mindset The other group of students read stories about the persistence and hard work behind mathematicians great discoveries These students adopted a growth mindset They persevered and spent more time understanding math problems The different messages of the stories led the students to approach math in different ways What stories do you tell yourself about what you can or can't do
X Z 2 4 8 6 6n 7 5 2x 2 1 MIND OVER MATH Use the Goldilocks Rule In math class if something feels too challenging and you don't understand it's important to ask for help Math ideas build on each other Think of learning math like climbing a ladder You can't reach the top rung without using the lower rungs If you build your knowledge one rung at a time you will feel secure as you advance to the top You need to use the Goldilocks Rule That's where the math isn't too hard or too easy it's just right Tutors teachers and online support can help James Clear author of the book Atomic Habits wrote that the Goldilocks Rule helps you stay motivated He recommended that you also measure your progress and receive immediate feedback whenever possible You don't need to do Math Olympiad-level problems at the beginning Even Maryam and Roya who eventually won medals at those competitions needed to practice and have special instruction on how to answer the questions Remember too that even when math problems are just-right challenges learning new ideas might take more time Have confidence in your ability Don't feel rushed to finish your math worksheet in class You don't have to be the first person to solve a problem The most important thing is to understand the concepts you're learning Take your time as you work through math problems The goal isn't to be quick but to understand
part-time JOHN MIGHTON Born October 2 1957 Canada The myths surrounding the subject encourage children to give up the moment they encounter any difficulty When he was young John Mighton read a book about mathematicians with superior minds born geniuses Since math didn't come as easily to him as it seemed to for those geniuses John figured he wasn't born with a math brain John worked hard to become a writer and eventually became a playwright When his first major production was performed onstage local reviewers slammed it One critic called it a muddled mess Still John kept writing He knew that with practice and effort he'd get better And he did His plays have won major awards and been performed in countries around the world John knew that writing well was something that could be learned But for a long time he didn't feel the same way about math He believed like many people that you needed to be born with a math brain Then he took a part-time job tutoring students in math He needed the extra cash and the pay was steady and he felt he could teach the basics well enough Some of the students had been diagnosed with learning disabilities John broke each math skill into small steps and the children began to excel He became interested in how we learn John also began to understand math more deeply through teaching others He saw student after student grow from a math-hating kid into one who enjoyed it He began to wonder Could excel in math John decided to put the same effort and persistence he had put into writing toward learning math He went back to school to earn a math degree He kept going until he earned his PhD the highest level in school in mathematics
8 5 Math shows us the invisible world On a walk through a park everyone can appreciate the beauty that we see But math can show you the invisible beauty that describes patterns in ferns and other plants the shapes of tall trees with branches spread wide or the symmetry in flowers As John went further in math he saw more of the invisible beauty in the world and he wanted to keep learning Earning his PhD was hard John failed some tests even some big important ones He failed for many reasons Sometimes he hadn't learned the material well enough Or the professors hadn't taught the material yet but were testing on it anyway Other times he was just nervous Some students didn't have the same mindset and dropped out of the program thinking failing a test meant they were a failure and couldn't do the math But John wasn't discouraged by a failed test He kept going It wasn't easy but he pushed down the feelings that he wasn't smart enough He tried not to let one failure negatively affect the next test He had learned from writing and tutoring that he could learn anything Wanting all kids to feel confident in their abilities to do well in math John created a math program an award winning charitable organization for elementary students called JUMP Math which stands for Junior Undiscovered Math Prodigies 3 2 For his work John has won multiple awards such as Entrepreneur of the Year many math awards and honorary doctorates 1 He attempts to solve unsolved problems sometimes over years for the joy of it He has written There are very few things I enjoy more than sitting at a desk doing mathematics 1
