It's not how smart students are but how motivated they are and how they study that determines their growth in math achievement. That's the main finding of a new study that appears in the journal Child Development.
The study was conducted by researchers at the University of Munich and the University of Bielefeld.
"While intelligence as assessed by IQ tests is important in the early stages of developing mathematical competence, motivation and study skills play a more important role in students' subsequent growth," according to Kou Murayama, postdoctoral researcher of psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles (who was at the University of Munich when he led the study).
Murayama and colleagues looked at six annual waves of data from a German longitudinal study assessing math ability in 3,520 students in grades 5 to 10. They investigated how students' motivation, study skills, and intelligence jointly predicted long-term growth in their math achievement over five years.
Intelligence was strongly linked to students' math achievement, but only in the initial development of competence in the subject. Motivation and study skills turned out to be more important factors in terms of students' growth (their learning curve or ability to learn) in math. Students who felt competent; were intrinsically motivated; used skills like summarizing, explaining, and making connections to other materials; and avoided rote learning showed more growth in math achievement than those who didn't. In contrast, students' intelligence had no relation to growth in math achievement.
"Our study suggests that students' competencies to learn in math involve factors that can be nurtured by education," explained Murayama. "Educational programs focusing on students' motivation and study skills could be an important way to advance their competency in math as well as in other subjects."
FAQs
It's not how smart students are but how motivated they are and how they study that determines their growth in math achievement. That's the main finding of a new study that appears in the journal Child Development. The study was conducted by researchers at the University of Munich and the University of Bielefeld.
How does motivation influence in learning mathematics? ›
In general, if students are motivated, they tend to use different resources to study. The impact is different for unmotivated students, who tend to obtain low values in using different resources for studying mathematics.
Is IQ related to mathematical ability? ›
This means that for every 1% addition to the math achievement score, the IQ score will increase by 0.103. Thus, it can be concluded that when students' mathematical achievement increases, their IQ will also increase. The influence of students' mathematics achievement on IQ is 16% with a correlation value of 0.4.
Is motivation important in teaching mathematics? ›
Emotions and motivation can be seen as learning outcomes or goals of mathematics instruction. They are also important prerequisites for cognitive outcomes (e.g., knowledge) and can mediate effects of teaching on these outcomes.
How do motivational factors influence learning? ›
Motivation has a direct impact on how an individual learns. The affects of motivation is normally far reaching because it increases an individual's energy level, determines the persistence in reaching a specific goal, affects the types of learning techniques used and an individual's thinking processes.
Do intelligent people struggle with math? ›
There are many reasons for a bright student to be bad at math, including poor learning environments, attention disorders and anxiety.
Do you need high IQ to study maths? ›
While IQ can be a useful tool for predicting academic performance or success in certain fields, it is not a perfect measure of intelligence, and there are many other factors that can contribute to success in mathematics, such as hard work, perseverance, and creativity.
Does learning calculus increase IQ? ›
While there is no direct correlation between math and IQ, a well-rounded education that includes math can contribute to overall intelligence growth. Enhanced cognitive skills: Studying math requires logical thinking, problem-solving, and critical analysis skills.
What quote will motivate you to do math? ›
“Without mathematics, there's nothing you can do. Everything around you is mathematics. Everything around you is numbers.” – Shakuntala Devi. Fun Math Quotes Sometimes Kids can relate to most contemporary math quotes for kids because they describe scenarios they have encountered in the past.
How do students most effectively learn math? ›
While research shows that knowledge of math facts is important, Boaler said the best way for students to know math facts is by using them regularly and developing understanding of numerical relations. Memorization, speed and test pressure can be damaging, she added.
Math is built on sequential learning. If a student didn't fully understand a previous lesson's concept, they are likely to struggle when newer concepts are introduced. To reduce fractions, students need to know division first; to do algebra, students need to be comfortable with multi-step arithmetic, and so on.
Why is math so hard for some students? ›
The lack of basic math facts makes it harder to tackle the abstract operations needed for higher-level math. As for fractions, younger students tend to have what's called a “whole number bias.” They look at both the numerator and denominator as individual whole numbers, rather than as a single number.
Why do I struggle to do math so much? ›
Dyscalculia is a condition that makes it hard to do math and tasks that involve math. It's not as well known or as understood as dyslexia . But some experts believe it's just as common. That means an estimated 5 to 10 percent of people might have dyscalculia.
What is motivation in mathematics classroom? ›
Motivating Mathematics demonstrates that pupils can be motivated by being given the Big Picture, including a clearer picture of the nature of maths, and by linking topics to the sciences, rather than teaching each topic in isolation.
What does motivate mean in maths? ›
In maths motivate term defines as facts and properties which helps you to reach at a particular result or solution. It means that we have to derive the theorems using mathematical facts and properties to use them.
How does motivation help students learn? ›
In education, motivation helps children and young people to focus their attention on a key goal or outcome. In doing so, they are unfazed by possible distractions, and are therefore able to maintain their attention during longer periods of time.
How motivation affects learning and problem solving? ›
Furthermore, motivation based on interest has been associated with better problem-solving performance (for a review see Mayer, 1998) and better SRL abilities such as effort regulation (i.e., controlling effort and attention) and metacognitive strategy use (i.e., checking and correcting one's own learning behavior; ...
