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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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itsbusiness modelJOSEPH LICHTERMAN
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The New York Times
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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
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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.
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