Growing and honing Your Mathematical Skills and Knowledge.
Student mathematical confidence.
Statements like "I am not a math person" or "I'm just not good at math" influences your mindset towards learning mathematics by impacting your motivation or confidence in the subject. Having low expectations on your ability to solve mathematical problems will set a mental framework that will lower you confidence in the subject and will lead to lower motivation in math. This relationship between preset suppositions and outcome, effects, or consequences can be attributed to the Pygmalion effect or Golem effect.1 2Adopting a growth mindset when studying math, provides the framework to accept any failures and integrates them into marks for future growth.
Considering the perspective that mathematical abilities are not fixed but rather can be developed through effort, practice, and perseverance provides a positive outlook that as long as effort to practice and study mathematics, an individual will grow their mathematical knowledge and skills.
From my experience, studying any provided mathematical textbook and practicing mathematical equations and problems provided me the practice to grow my mathematical knowledge and skills. I feel like the U.S. educational system gets a bad rap and is criminally underfunded and mishandled.
American Psychological Association. "Pygmalion Effect." APA Dictionary of Psychology. Accessed October 31, 2024. https://dictionary.apa.org/pygmalion-effect.
Psychology Fanatic. "Pygmalion Effect: The Power of Expectations." Last modified October 5, 2021. Accessed October 31, 2024. https://psychologyfanatic.com/pygmalion-effect/.