Lin Fu-lai, a professor of math at NTNU, has observed a "math anxiety syndrome" among Taiwan's students. They develop a resistance to math, feeling that no matter how much they study they will never learn it. Contact with math causes fear, helplessness, confusion and nervousness. The syndrome first afflicts many students in junior high, particularly seventh grade.
師大數學系教授林福來觀察，如今台灣的學童產生「數學焦慮症」的階段，也就是說對數學產生抗拒、認為怎麼學都學不好，或是一碰到數學課就發生恐懼、無助、混亂、緊張不安等現象，很多都在中學階段，特別是國中一年級，有些則更提前到國小五、六年級。