Ep. 234: Understanding and Addressing Math Anxiety with Aditya Nagrath, PhD

Apr 29, 2025

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This week on Diverse Thinking Different Learning, we welcome Dr. Aditya Nagrath. Dr. Nagrath is the founder of Elephant Learning Mathematics Academy and helps students overcome math anxiety, rapidly advancing their skills with just ten minutes of practice a few times a week. He holds a PhD in Mathematics and Computer Sciences and has over three decades of experience as a software engineer, entrepreneur, author, and speaker, working on a wide range of projects from atomic clocks to mobile apps.

Dr. Nagrath joins us for this episode to discuss mathematics anxiety - where it comes from, how it's misunderstood, how to address it and more. A child's early struggles with math are not always just academic but are also emotional and potentially even life-changing. Dr. Nagrath draws from his rich background in math, computer science, and education to help us break down why so many students begin falling behind in math as early as kindergarten and how early delays often snowball into years of lost confidence, missed opportunities, and career shifts away from math-intensive fields.

This isn't just about numbers or curriculum, however. As Dr. Nagrath explains, math anxiety is often rooted in beliefs such as "I'm not a math person" - beliefs that can trigger lifelong avoidance and reinforce themselves with every uncomfortable encounter with numbers. This is truly a vicious circle that hinders growth and learning well into adulthood.

The conversation challenges the common misconception that disliking math is harmless. How early numeracy can actually influence language development, how adult comments can unconsciously pass limiting beliefs to children, and why literacy-focused initiatives may be unintentionally crowding out math readiness.

Dr. Nagrath also tells us about Elephant Learning, a tech-based platform that adapts to each student's comprehension level and uses gamified learning to rebuild mathematical confidence from the ground up. This episode serves as a reminder that math isn't just a subject but a gateway and that what we do (or, for that matter, don't do) in the earliest years can shape far more than just test scores.

Show Notes: [2:22] - Dr. Aditya Nagrath explains how working with Elephant Learning revealed that minor complaints often mask deeper math anxiety. [5:05] - The belief that "I'm not a math person" stalls effort and future academic/career opportunities. [7:09] - Similar to AI training, learning depends on the meanings that we assign to experiences and challenges. [9:53] - Hear how Dr. Nagrath defines mathematics anxiety. [12:11] - Dr. Nagrath argues that many students' unresolved early math gaps snowball, derailing STEM careers and impacting the economy. [15:48] - Dr. Nagrath also asserts that Algebra is essential because it introduces written mathematics that are needed for interpreting the modern world. [17:40] - Hear how preschool math practice improves children's future reading, writing, and speaking abilities. [19:41] - Dr. Nagrath uses a basketball analogy to demonstrate that practicing math is essential because no alternative "game" exists. [21:46] - Dr. Nagrath explains that Elephant Learning builds math skills by meeting students at their comprehension level with gamified learning. [24:01] - By mapping standards to age levels, Elephant Learning helps students visualize progress. [27:18] - Because of deeply rooted self-doubt, overcoming math anxiety later in life tends to be more difficult. [28:44] - Dr. Nagrath stresses that problem-solving, like basketball, improves with practice rather than innate intelligence. [31:00] - Modern demands require deeper, language-like mathematical understanding.

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