Complex mathematics isn’t for everyone (but maybe it should be)
by Marilyn Achiron Editor, Directorate for Education and Skills Put a complicated algebraic equation or geometry problem in front of a 15-year-old student (or, for that matter, just about anyone) and you can almost see the brain at work: I. Can’t. Do.This. Most of us have found ourselves in this situation at one point or another. But many students, particularly students from disadvantaged backgrounds, have never seen these kinds of mathematics problems; their teachers have decided they’re not up to the challenge. Some might call these students “lucky”; but this month’s PISA in Focus argues otherwise. Results from PISA 2012 show that while weaker students report higher anxiety when confronted with complex mathematics problems, if their teachers work with them individually, without “dumbing down” the mathematics lesson, these students tend to develop more positive beliefs in their own abilities to solve mathematics problems. PISA 2012 finds that, on average across OECD ...