Re:School vs. Wikipedia
by scythe on Friday October 07, 2022 @04:17PM
(#33126407)
>It’s an incredibly common cause of anxiety in math education
I question whether this can be a root cause of anxiety. Simply not understanding stuff does not normally cause anxiety. Most people don't get anxious looking at, for example, Chinese characters.
On the other hand, imputing that something should be frightening can actually cause a fear response:
Teaching students that incomprehensible math should frighten them doesn't seem like a good approach. There are no grades or critical teachers when you're passively reading a Wikipedia article.
I question whether this can be a root cause of anxiety. Simply not understanding stuff does not normally cause anxiety. Most people don't get anxious looking at, for example, Chinese characters.
On the other hand, imputing that something should be frightening can actually cause a fear response:
https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1993-20380-001
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030105110...
https://www.nature.com/articles/nn1968
Teaching students that incomprehensible math should frighten them doesn't seem like a good approach. There are no grades or critical teachers when you're passively reading a Wikipedia article.