Why Is High School Math So Hard? Common Struggles and How to Overcome Them
As students progress through high school, many start finding mathematics harder to understand and learn. Topics such as algebra, geometry, trigonometry, calculus, integration, and others introduce them to complex challenges that they find difficult.
There can be numerous reasons behind this struggle. In this blog post, we are going to take a closer look at some of the major ones. Apart from that, we will also discuss solutions to overcome them.
So, let’s get started; it is going to be worth reading!
Reasons Why Many Students Find High School Math So Tough
Below are a few common reasons why many students find high school math so hard.
Gaps in Fundamental Concepts
Mathematics is a conceptual subject that heavily relies on the concepts that you have learned in previous classes or grades.
If a student struggles with basic arithmetic, fractions, and simple equations, they may find it hard to understand advanced math. This indicates a clear knowledge gap that becomes noticeable when students progress through high school.
Increased Complexity of Math Topics
As students move towards higher education, the subjects and their topics start getting complex. The same goes for mathematics. Topics or chapters such as algebra, integration, geometry, and trigonometry involve:
Formulas
Abstract expressions
Complex problem-solving techniques
These usually make it difficult for students to learn and understand new topics. Simply memorizing information, formulas, and steps may not always work when dealing with high school mathematics; students must understand where and how to apply a specific formula or problem-solving method.
Quick Classroom Learning
In high schools, professors often have to cover several chapters within a limited period to complete the syllabus before exams. That’s why they usually adopt a quick teaching approach, which many students struggle to keep up with, especially those who are naturally slow at learning.
As a result, they may find themselves falling behind while their class is moving to the next topic. This creates a cycle of confusion because new mathematical concepts often depend on previously learned material.
Math Anxiety
Due to math anxiety, many fear making mistakes, getting embarrassed in front of their classmates, or receiving low grades.
As a result, they get stressed, which ultimately impacts their critical thinking and overall learning potential.
So, these are a few major reasons why many students find high school math so tough and challenging.
Common Struggles Students Face with High School Math and How to Overcome Them
In this section, we are going to discuss some common struggles of high school students with mathematics and their appropriate solutions.
Unable to Understand Math Formulas
High school math involves understanding mathematical concepts, remembering relevant formulas, and knowing how to apply them. From algebra and calculus to quadratic equations and geometric formulas, each mathematical concept requires students to learn and understand how and when to apply a specific formula.
We all know that high school math consists of several chapters, which means there will be lots of formulas that students need to understand. This often becomes challenging for many, especially when multiple chapters or topics involve similar expressions.
Now, here is one more thing: some students often memorize the formulas without actually understanding their usage. This approach may help them solve a few questions, but they may struggle during the exam, where similar problems are often presented in different formats.
How to overcome it?
To overcome this challenge, students should focus on understanding the purpose and logic behind each formula.
Here is how this can be done:
First of all, you need to understand what the formula represents, what each variable means, and how changing a certain value can impact the outcome.
Also, review and practice relevant examples to ultimately learn how the formula can be applied in different settings and problems.
Useful Tip: Consider maintaining a formula sheet by writing down the question, its formula, and a brief description explaining when and how to use it.
Solving Multi-Step Questions
Another common struggle that many students face with high school math is performing multiple steps and calculations to reach the final answer. They may have to apply multiple formulas, algebraic simplification, substitutions, and calculations in a specific order to correctly solve a problem.
The multi-step process increases the chances that students may lose track of their progress, skip a step, or make a minor calculation error that affects the entire solution. So, they may get confused about where they went wrong.
How to overcome it?
To effectively solve multi-step math problems, students should first try to understand what the question requires them to calculate. When done, identify the right formula and solution method.
Do not try to solve the entire question mentally; instead, a better approach is to write down the calculations on a rough draft. After completing each step, take a step back to check whether everything is accurate before moving on to the next one.
To further simplify the process, students may also consider utilizing AI Math Solver like AllMath as a learning assistant. It can help solve various math problems by providing step-by-step explanations that support understanding.
Solving Written Questions
Written questions are usually more difficult than the standard mathematical ones. They require students to:
Understand the question
Identify the most important details
Convert those details into mathematical equations or expressions
Unfortunately, many students struggle to complete these three important steps. Some quickly rush through the written question, overlooking key details, while some select the wrong solution method.
How to overcome it?
The approach for effectively solving written math questions is as follows:
Read the entire problem word by word
Identify and highlight the known values
Determine what the question is asking you to find/calculate
Translate the relevant information into a mathematical equation or expression.
For instance, if a problem involves constant speed and provides the speed and travel time, you can calculate the distance using the following formula:
Distance = Speed x Time
Moreover, it is suggested to practice with different types of written questions to ultimately strengthen overall skills.
Forgetting Previously Learned Concepts
As we have mentioned earlier in this blog, mathematics is a cumulative subject. This means most of its topics are often built directly on the concepts that students have learned previously. When students have gaps in their foundational knowledge, they may struggle to understand more advanced mathematical concepts.
Another reason is that students often learn a concept and then leave it untouched and unrevised for several weeks and months. As a result, they often face difficulties in learning more advanced concepts.
How to overcome it?
To avoid forgetting previously learned concepts, students should make regular revision part of their study routine. Before starting a new topic, spare some time to review the previous lesson, particularly when both the new and old concepts are closely related.
If you are struggling with any chapter or question, take a step back to understand its foundational basics and rules, solve examples, and practice basic questions to strengthen your understanding.
Final Words
Many students find high school very tough. This is because they encounter complex and more advanced concepts with unfamiliar formulas. As a result, they often face a few common challenges such as understanding formulas, solving multi-step problems, mastering previously learned lessons, and much more. However, finding a subject difficult does not mean it is impossible to learn.
In this blog post, we have discussed reasons why students find high school math so hard and the common struggles they face, along with solutions to overcome them.
