14.04.2025

How adding easier maths tasks motivates pupils

According to a recent study by a team including education researcher and LEAD member Allan Wigfield, students prefer longer maths tasks that contain easier questions alongside more challenging questions, rather than shorter, exclusively difficult tasks.

Original article published by University of Maryland, edited version

How can we help pupils to learn maths better and to work on difficult mathematical tasks?  A new study provides answers to this question: By not only including difficult questions in a task but also easy questions. This helps students gain confidence in their abilities and motivates them to work on the more difficult questions with greater accuracy. This concept is known as the ‘remembered success effect’. The study has been awarded the description as one of the most important educational studies of 2024.

The research team, which included UMD professor emeritus and LEAD member Allan Wigfield, examined how 281 third-graders and 289 sixth-graders responded to the difficult maths material and the sequence of easier tasks during the task. The students completed a short task with ten difficult problems and a longer task with ten difficult problems and five additional easier questions. The study participants were divided into subcategories in which they were given the five less difficult tasks at different sections - at the beginning, in the middle or at the end of the task. At the end of the experiment, the students were asked whether they preferred the ‘extended’ maths task or a shorter task.

Adding simple questions for higher math motivation 

The results showed that the order had little to no effect on students' preferences, but both age groups preferred the longer task with more chance of success over the shorter task. ‘Even before the pandemic, national reports showed that maths results were declining,’ explained Wigfield. ‘We hope this study will provide teachers with a method to motivate their students in the classroom.’

When students struggle with difficult maths concepts, teachers sometimes choose to only provide them with easier tasks to avoid frustration. However, this tendency can make it harder for students to progress to more difficult maths concepts. By giving predominantly difficult tasks with some easier ones instead, Wigfield says, maths teachers can make direct use of the study's findings. ‘By using the remembered success methodology, teachers can help students retain a deeper understanding of maths concepts,’ said Wigfield, adding: ’Of course, this is the first study with children to demonstrate the effect of remembered success; we are continuing to investigate the conditions under which it works well.’
 

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