Why do some students keep getting better at math while others seem to hit a wall early on? Many people think that doing well in math mostly depends on natural brainpower. But a new study from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology offers a more detailed perspective. The results were recently published in Contemporary Educational Psychology.
Lead author Astrid Hoås Morin and her team examined whether motivation or working memory matters more for improving math skills over time. They used detailed data from the long-running Trondheim Early Secure Study.
The researchers followed students from ages 8 to 16 and used a new method to distinguish lasting differences between students from changes that happen as they grow.
The study directly compared working memory and intrinsic motivation. Working memory acts like a mental notebook, helping students keep track of numbers, rules, and steps while solving tough problems.
While top math students usually have strong working memory, the researchers noted that this skill changes little and is very hard to improve.
“Working memory is more about stable differences between students than about what drives further development,” Morin explained.
Because students with strong working memory tend to keep that ability as they get older, it is not the main driver of continued progress. Instead, intrinsic motivation, or working at math because it feels interesting or meaningful, turned out to be the real key to long-term success.
Unlike working memory, intrinsic motivation is highly malleable. Researchers discovered that motivation and mathematical performance are powerfully self-reinforcing over time. Higher intrinsic motivation predictably led to better math performance two years later.
By contrast, students who mastered math concepts showed significantly increased intrinsic motivation during the next round of testing.
Morin stressed that motivation is not just something that happens after you get good at math. It is an important part of getting there in the first place. Because real progress requires a genuine desire to learn, teachers are encouraged to help students find interest, mastery, and engagement in class.
This approach works much better than just trying to improve a student’s working memory.
