I came across this on Science Daily today.... A recent study published today in the journal of Child Development shows that it's not how smart students are but how motivated they are and how they study that determines their growth in math achievement. The study was conducted by researchers at the University of Munich and the University of Bielefeld.
"While intelligence as assessed by IQ tests in 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).
Intelligence was strongly linked to students' match 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.
