The Myth of 'I'm Bad at Math' - Miles Kimball & Noah Smith. “I’m just not a math person.” We hear it all the time. And we’ve had enough. Because we believe that the idea of “math people” is the most self-destructive idea in America today. The truth is, you probably are a math person, and by thinking otherwise, you are possibly hamstringing your own career. Worse, you may be helping to perpetuate a pernicious myth that is harming underprivileged children—the myth of inborn genetic math ability. Is math ability genetic? How do we know this? Different kids with different levels of preparation come into a math class. Thus, people’s belief that math ability can’t change becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
The idea that math ability is mostly genetic is one dark facet of a larger fallacy that intelligence is mostly genetic. A body of research on conceptions of ability has shown two orientations toward ability. You have a certain amount of intelligence, and you really can’t do much to change it. The results? So why do we focus on math? 1. Lesson plan, alg 1, unit 1, lesson 1. Guided Notes ALG1U1L1. Math careers webquest. Introduction to the Math in Careers Database. R_701JBR.pdf. IP Instr deskv. INTEREST_PROFILER_SP_Portrait.pdf. O*NET Interest Profiler at My Next Move.