Matt Waite_ How I Faced My Fears and Learned to Be Good at Math » Nieman Journalism Lab

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By MATT WAITE @mattwaite Nov. 13, 2013, 10 a.m.

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Matt Waite: How I facedmy fears and learned tobe good at mathYou might think the principal coder behind PolitiFact took naturally tomath. Youd be wrong.

Somewhereinmiddleschool,IhadconvincedmyselfthatIwasbadatmath.Itwasokay:Mymomwasbadatmathtoo.SowerelotsofpeopleIlookedupto.Badatmathwasathingprobablyevengeneticanditwasokay.

IsothoroughlyconvincedmyselfthatIwasbadatmaththatIverynearlydidntgraduatefromhighschool.Ittooktutorsandhoursaweektosqueakthroughanadvancedalgebraclassmyfriendshadallbreezedthroughontheirwaytomuchharderclasses.

Butitwasokay.Iwasbadatmath.They

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Welcome tojournalism, where

bad at mathisnt just a

destructive idea its a badge of

honor.

werent.Simpleasthat.

Anditwasallalie.

Badatmathisalieyoutellyourselftomakefailureatmathhurtless.Thatsallitis.ProfessorsMilesKimballandNoahSmithwroteinTheAtlanticthatmanyofusfacedamomentinourliveswhereweenteredamathclassthatsomeofuswerepreparedforandsomeofuswerent.Those

thatgotitrightawayweregoodatmathandthosewhodidnt,well,werent.Orsowebelieved.Thosewhoweregoodkeptworkingtostaygood,andthoseofuswhowerebadatitbelievedthelie.

Now,KimballandSmithwritethatbadatmathisthemostselfdestructiveideainAmericatoday.

Well,ProfessorsKimballandSmith,welcometojournalism,wherebadatmathisntjustadestructiveideaitsabadgeofhonor.Itsyouradmissiontotheclub.Itswovenintotheveryfabricofidentityasajournalist.

Anditsadestructivelie.OneIwouldsaymostjournalistsbelieve.Itsaliethatmaywellbealurkingvariableinthedeathofjournalismsinstitutions.

NamemeahotgrowthareainjournalismandIllshowyouanareaindesperateneedofpeoplewhocandoabitofmath.Data.Programming.Visualization.Itstellingthatmostoftheeffortnowisaroundrecruitingpeoplefromoutsidejournalismtodothesethings.

Butitdoesntendthere.Namemeaplacewherejournalismneedshelp,andIllshowyoumoreplaceswheremathisadailyneed:analytics,productdevelopment,marketanalysis.Allbusinesssidejobs,right?Notanymore.

Truthis,badatmathwasneveragoodthinginjournalism,evenwhenthingslikedataandanalyticswerentapartofthejob.Coveringacitybudget?Itsshamefulhowmanynewsroomcreaturescantcalculatepercentchange.Coveringsports?Itsembarrassinghowmanysportswritersdismissthegiganticleapsforwardindataanalysisinallsportsasnerdstuff.

Inshort,wevecreatedaculturewhereignoranceofasubjectisnotonlyaccepted,itsglorified.Haha!Journalistsarebadatmath!Fireishotandwateriswettoo!

ImnotgoingtotellyouhowtogetgoodatmathbygivingyoulinkstoonlinematerialsorMOOCsorwhatever.Imnot.YoucanGoogle.You

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shoulddothat.No,Imgoingtotellyouastory.

ThroughgritandluckandaHailMarypassofagradeonafinalexam,Ididgraduatefromhighschool.Andin1993IwenttotheUniversityofNebraskaLincoln,wheretheCollegeofJournalismandMassCommunicationsatthetimesaidthecurricularequivalentofMath?Whythehelldoyouneedmath?Ithoughtthiswasgreat.Nomath?Imustbeinheaven.

Twentyyearslater,Imnowaprofessorinthatsamejournalismschoolthatletmeskipoutofmath.Wedontdothatanymore,butourmathrequirementsareprettythinanduniversallyreviledbystudents,mostofwhomwouldsaytheyrebadatmath.Asaprofessor,Icantakeclassesforfree.Anditsabundantlyobvioustomethatjournalismsproblemsarentwithjournalismtheyreaboutmoney.Wheredoesonegotolearnaboutmoney?Businessschool.

SoIthoughtIwouldgetanMBAtobetterunderstandthebusinesssideofjournalism.IwalkedovertothebusinesscollegeandtoldthemIwantedtodothis.Haveyouhadcalculusasanundergrad?Oh.Uh,no.Havetohaveit.Itsanadmissionrequirement.

SoalmosttwodecadestothedaythatIsetfootoncampus,thereIwas,takingamathplacementexam.Thisexamisgiventoallincomingfreshmentodeterminewhichmathclasstheyshouldstartwith.Itookitandcouldbarelyreadthequestions.Iftheyhadgivenmeagrade,Iwouldhavebombedit.Itestedstraightintoaremedialmathclassforstudentswhodidntgetenoughinhighschool.Congrats,MathDepartment:Yourtestnailedit.

IprobablycouldhavecrammedandwatchedKhanAcademyvideosforhours,takenitagain,andlandedinahighermathclass.ButIwouldhavefeltlikeIcheatedmywayin.Andthatwouldhavebeenterrifying.So,Itooktheclass.Math100A.Justa37yearoldprofessorand30orso18yearoldfreshmen.TotallynormalIdidntstickoutatall.TheinstructorwasinfirstgradewhenIwaslastinamathclass.SheaskedmewhatIwasdoingthere.Toldhermystory.Herreaction:Shewasbadatmathtoo,untilshegottocollege.Now,shesgettingaPh.D.init.

Givenallthat,IlivedinabsoluteterrorthatIwouldntdowell.Isatinthefrontrow.Iaskedquestionsnonstop.Ididallthehomework.Ididextrapracticeproblems.Iraisedmyhandtoanswerquestionssomuchtheinstructoraskedmetostop.Istudiedforhours.

AndIgotanA+.Iwasshocked.Andelated.InspiteofthefactthatImagrownupandshouldgetanAinaremedialcourse,Iwaspumpedup.IcantremembermylastAinmath.

Summer of Scienceaims to make sciencejournalism mobile-friendly and funJUSTIN ELLIS



The differencebetween good atmath and bad atmath is hardwork. Its trying.Its trying hard.

Ontothenextclass.Math101:CollegeAlgebra.Justthenamegavemechills.IcouldbarelypasshighschoolalgebrahowthehellwasIgoingtohandlecollegealgebra?HereIwas,agrownmanwithafamilyandahouseandajobandaresume,sweatingbulletsandlosingsleepaboutaclassfreshmentake.

Sameplan,sameresult:Workhard,getA+.

Imhalfwaythroughcalculusthissemester.Ihaveneverinmylifeworkedthishardinaclass.IveneversatawakeatnightworryingaboutaclasslikeIhavetossingandturningthinkingabouthowtocalculatethederivativeofsomething.Icangospeakinfrontof1,000peoplewithlessthanfiveminutesofpreparationandbedownrightcalmcomparedtothefeelingIhavegoingtotakeatest.

Rightnow,IvegotaB+.AndifIwalkoutoftherewithit,itlleasilybethemostproudofagradeIlleverhavebeen.

Why?Becauseatthislevel,Imseeingtheconsequencesofhowastudentapproachesmath.Oneachtest,themedianscorehasbeenaroundahighForalowD.Thelasttestsawmorethanhalftheclassfail.Itsbrutal.Ofthe111studentsintheclass,Imguessing70ofthemwillbetakingitagain.

TheonlyadvantageIhaveovermyclassmates?Iknowexactlyhowtofailatmath:Dontputanyeffortin.Blowitoff.Dosomethingelse.AglassofwineandarerunofBigBangTheorykicksthecrapoutofapplicationsofextremausingderivatives,evenifyouhatewineandloatheBigBangTheory.

ButthatsthelessonIvelearned:Thedifferencebetweengoodatmathandbadatmathishardwork.Itstrying.Itstryinghard.Itstryingharderthanyouveevertriedbefore.Thatsit.

Sodomeafavor:Try.Stopwiththejokes.Stoptellingme,Oh,Icouldneverdothatwhenyouaskmeaboutmath.Becauseitsnottrue.Youcan.Ifyoutry.

Youcanbegoodatmath.

Matt Waite is a professor of practice at the College of Journalism and MassCommunications. Previously, he was senior news technologist at the St.Petersburg Times, where he was the principal developer of the Pulitzer Prize-winning PolitiFact.



POSTEDNov. 13, 2013, 10 a.m.

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Matt Waite_ How I Faced My Fears and Learned to Be Good at Math » Nieman Journalism Lab