Ways to help students gain confidence in maths

Maths is a subject which many students struggle with and it’s important that teachers help them grow confidently in this area. To help achieve this, teachers can apply a range of different learning approaches to support students. Here are a selection of ways you may find helpful.

Everyone learns differently

Think about how you can teach a concept in a variety of ways. Some pupils may immediately want to give up if they don’t understand something so exploring how you could solve a problem helps make it accessible for more people. Encourage people to read the question and think about what the problem is asking. Some people gloss over the question and immediately think they can’t do it. Break a question down in to steps and explain what that terminology means to help pupils understand.

Let the pupils know its ok to make mistakes

Maths is about problem solving and making mistakes is part of the learning process to be able to understand how to get to an answer. Pupils need to understand it is ok to get it wrong. By taking away the fear some have of making mistakes, it means pupils are more likely to try the challenges maths shows them.

Be enthusiastic about maths

Engaging in the subject and making it fun helps to inspire pupils. Create an interesting story around the maths problem to help make people see how it relates to everyday life. By associating the relevance, it helps them understand the value of knowing maths.

Create open-ended maths problems which explore different ways of approaching a solution as it allows pupils to see the different routes to follow. This helps develop an inquisitive nature to understand the subject.

Incorporate maths games

There are many online resources to encourage maths. These are great a building confidence, creating competitions, and showing progress. Pupils are more likely to embrace the lessons and take onboard what they are learning.

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