The role of memorization in students’ self-reported mathematics learning: a large-scale study of Chinese eighth-grade students

Abstract

This study examined over 48,000 eighth-grade Chinese students’ mathematics performance and use of learning strategies. In particular, this study explored how the use of learning strategies and their combinations are related to students’ mathematics performance in Chinese context. This study examined three kinds of learning strategies derived from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2012: memorization, elaboration, and control. The findings indicate that few students chose the memorization strategy as their predominant way of learning mathematics. Instead, students usually chose a combination of learning strategies. The choice of combinations of learning strategies was highly correlated with students’ mathematics performance. Students who chose control strategies outperformed those who chose memorization strategies or elaboration strategies. This study also examined the relationship between learning strategy use and mathematics performance of students who were only children (students with no siblings, born under the “one child” policy) and students living in nonagricultural residential locations (hukou status), both of which are background variables unique to Chinese context. The findings indicate that only-child and nonagricultural students outperformed non-only-child and agricultural students when choosing the same learning strategies. However, those who chose control-dominant strategies performed better than those who chose memorization-dominant strategies, regardless of their background. This study provides a new lens for considering the relationship between learning strategy use and mathematics performance, demonstrating that various learning strategies should be considered together rather than separately.