In his book “How the Brain Learns Mathematics”, Dr. David Sousa presents the findings of recent research on the brain and mathematics learning. He discusses the results of the studies of neuroscience and cognitive psychology that can inform the teaching of mathematics. He also focuses on the importance of giving meaning, making connections during learning processes. While reading the book, I found answers on many questions that came to the young learners’ minds. Therefore, I reformed Sousa’ ideas in a table that represents what teachers have to know to support learners who think that they are “Not Math People” and help them develop a Growth Mindset in Mathematics.

 

When a kid thinks that…	The teacher has to know that…
“I can’t do the math. I am not a math person.”	Because we are born with number sense, most of us have the potential to be a lot better at arithmetic and mathematics than we think.
“I was very good at arithmetic facts in the early years, so why is it so difficult for me to do multiplication?”	The way we most often teach multiplication tables is counterintuitive. Children in the primary grades encounter a sudden shift from their intuition understanding of numerical quantities and counting strategies to the rote learning of arithmetic facts which unfortunately leads to the loss of their intuition about arithmetic in the process. The main idea while teaching facts is to use the students’ innate sense of patterning to build a multiplication network.
“I can easily operate small numbers, but it is harder with larger numbers, and most of the adults can’t do long operations.”	Our development as a species did not prepare the brain for multiplication tables, complicated algorithms, or any other formal mathematics operations, because these operations are not essential to our species’ survival. Moreover, to do arithmetic, we need to recruit mental circuits that developed for different reasons.
“I often do mistakes while counting and in differentiating between “forty” from “fourteen”. Moreover, I doubt that I can easily count in Arabic, despite being my mother tough.”	Our language affects our ability to learn to count. The Western language systems for saying numbers pose more problems for children learning to count than the Asian languages. The Western systems are harder to keep in temporary memory, make the acquisition of counting and the conception of base 10 more difficult, and slow down calculation. In Chinese, for example, they need only 11 words to count from 1 to 100, but English requires 28. Moreover, the system of spoken Chinese numerals directly parallels the structure of written Arabic numerals, which allows the Chinese children to exhibit a deep understanding of the base-10 structure.
“My parents told me that I am not a Math person and I don’t have the Logical/Mathematical intelligence, just like them.”	The number sense is the innate beginning of mathematical intelligence, but the extent to which it becomes an individual’s major talent still rests with the type and strength of the genetic input and the environment in which the individual grows and learns. The availability of appropriate materials and the value of any particular culture will thus have a significant impact on the degree to which specific types of intelligence are activated, developed, or discouraged.
“I did a lot of practice; however, I still have difficulty with the multiplication tables.”	Several factors contribute to our troubles with numbers. They include associative memory, pattern recognition, and language. Oddly enough, these are three of the most powerful and useful features of the human brain. Although the associative memory is a powerful and useful capability, this memory runs into problems in areas such as the multiplication tables, where various pieces of information must be kept from interfering with one another.
“I solve problems correctly one day but I can’t remember how to do it the next day.”	Any new learning is more likely to be retrained if the learner has adequate time to process and reprocess it. This continuing reprocessing of information is called rehearsal, and it is a critical component in the transference of information from working memory to long-term storage. If the learning process was not stored, the brain treats the information as brand-new again.
“Why do I need to know these concepts?”	If teachers cannot answer the question, “Why do we need to know this?” in a way that is meaningful to students, then we need to rethink why we are teaching that item at all.

 

 

Reference
Sousa, David A., author. (2015). How the brain learns mathematics. Thousand Oaks, California :Corwin