Many students struggle with math. Many students are anxious about math. Some educators think timed tests used to build computational fluency -- how many problems can you solve in a "mad minute?" -- are to blame. Students are overwhelmed by stress, they argue.
Others say committing math facts to memory frees up students' brains to think about concepts. Why is 3 + 2 equal to 2 + 3?
Personally, I find knowing things reduces my anxiety. Having to figure something out from scratch each time is slow, tiring and annoying.
Timed tests don't cause math anxiety, according to new research, reports Stephen Sawchuk in Education Week. In the study, fourth-and fifth-grade students were either told they had two minutes to answer multiplication problems or stopped after two minutes. Then, half were told they had four minutes to do more complex problems, while the other half were stopped after four minutes. Knowing the test was timed made no difference in students' self-reported levels of anxiety.
What causes math anxiety has been a huge debate among education professors and teachers, he writes.
Speed drills “should be avoided,” recommends the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. "Potentially even more powerful," Sawchuk writes, are "the frequent anecdotes from parents, teachers, and students who say they hated timed math drills or felt that having to do them made them dread the subject."
However, research suggests timed activities help elementary students develop fluency, advises the U.S. Education Department's What Works Clearinghouse.
"How teachers structure timed fluency activities can make a difference," writes Sawchuk. "For example, comparing individual students’ times can feel embarrassing and demotivating for students, yet many students find purpose in trying to beat their own time in fluency exercises."
A little stress can be "motivating," researchers tell him. "Successfully learning new things ultimately leads kids to feel more accomplished."
Practice quizzes improve achievement and reduce students' anxiety, according to a meta-analysis of research by cognitive scientist David Shanks of University College London, writes Jill Barshay.
Quizzes can be a “gentle” way to help students face challenges, he told Barshay. “It’s like being put very gently into the shallow end. And then the next time a little bit deeper, and then a little bit deeper.”
Shanks recommends low-stakes practice tests students can retake. He also believes timed tests provide a "learning benefit" and a "beneficial impact on anxiety."
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