Why Students Struggle with Math

Why do students struggle with math? Through experience, I have found 4 main reasons that attribute to this fact.

I am a math teacher. When people find this fact out, 8 times out of 10, they have this reaction: “Oof, math. I always struggled with math.” I explain I’m a middle school math teacher, they laugh, grimace, and praise me for dealing with these stereotypical moody and insubordinate bunch of humans.

I appreciate the awe and gratitude from these well-meaning individuals. As an innately positive person who has always loved math, found joy and beauty in its absoluteness, I dread telling people what I do. It inevitably brings out the frustration inside of me when people have had bad memories with math and therefore write off the subject as a whole.

Your words have power over your mind.

Saying “I can’t do math” or “I’ve always hated math” makes your brain truly believe that. Now, whenever math comes up, you immediately feel negative emotions. Even worse, you pass that feeling on to your impressionable kids, whether intentional or not.

Reasons Students Struggle with Math

Through talking with people, I have found 4 main reasons behind why people “hate” math. My goal with listing these out is for you to gain perspective and help your students gain confidence in their math abilities.

1. The math is too hard and makes no sense.

“I don’t get it. It makes no sense.” This phrase is usually paired with crossed arms and slouching. Sometimes anger. It’s better to stop now than to feel like a failure. Anger, defensiveness, and other emotions come up to block out the uncertainty. When students use this phrase, it is a flag that something is happening. One of those things could be a lack of prerequisite knowledge. Prerequisite knowledge is the learning required before moving onto the next step.

Another scenario could be how it was taught. Either too fast, not enough example problems, not engaging enough, no purpose given as to why they are learning it or not taught in the way that student learns best.

And lastly, it could be some other emotional experience in that student’s life bleeding into the math classroom.
This is my most common finding when people have a dislike for math. The way the math was presented made it non-digestible. And most people stop when they reach the struggle phase. It’s better to give up then to be seen as a failure, right?

And your experience is valid. Sometimes, it also has to do with number sense and prerequisite knowledge. Number sense is the understanding of numbers and how they relate to each other. When students don’t have these pieces, math is sometimes inaccessible to them, making it seem “too hard”.

2. The teacher doesn’t speak the common vernacular.

While this topic relates to #1, it deserves it own mention.

Having a teacher who understands math and all its connections is vital. If they cannot then convey the knowledge to their students, then an impasse arises. The result is going to be a frustrated, defeated teacher with a group of equally frustrated and defeated students.

I had a biology professor in college who normally taught the highest levels of that course. But this year, that professor was given Bio 101. I struggled in that class. I did the majority of my learning on my own and in my study group.

The reason I had a rough time was the language used during the lessons. All the academic vocabulary was used before it was ever explained. It was taught with the impression that we already knew all of those terms. As a beginner’s course, it was not at the level we needed.

3. Math class is boring.

There is no enjoyment in boring things. We tune it out and think about better things. Every holiday break I got in college and now every Christmas, I drive from my home in Oregon to see my parents in California, which is a 12 to 14 hour investment. It is a long, tedious, and boring drive. I just want to get there already!

But once I started taking those drives with my now husband, they got better. And only then when we would listen to podcasts, pump music, dream about our future, or sleep (only when you aren’t the one driving!), did those drives turn into some awesome adventures.

If students are not stimulated with activities, motion, multiple types of examples, et cetera, it doesn’t get those creative juices flowing. I had a colleague once say there was only one way to teach the concept, the students better learn it! Wrong…I can show you 4 different ways to approach it. Just bear with me.

4. The student’s struggle with math isn’t about the math.

This encompasses the past 3 reasons plus addresses all the other possibilities I have heard in my conversations.
We are all shaped by our experiences. Our mindset, our beliefs, our attitudes are molded from how we have experienced life.

I used to love Red Robin. Their Whiskey River Wrap was my go to item. It was one of the first restaurants my parents and I went to when I arrived in Salem. I spent my 21st birthday drinking the Spiked Freckled Lemonade and Boozy Milkshakes. And then I had my terrible, literally gut-wrenching experience. I got food poisoning from my favorite wrap. And from then on out, I have turned my nose up to the thought of Red Robin. I am afraid I will have a bad reaction to it and don’t want to give it a chance.

People often times have that experience with math. When our teacher says we are wrong in front of the class, or everyone around us understood something and we didn’t or the other students snicker when we for asking a “dumb” question, our confidence in our math ability plummets.