The importance of learning math facts

Students with higher and lower math scores use different parts of the brain when doing simple calculations, according to a new study in The Journal of Neuroscience. High achievers use an area of the brain associated with arithmetic fact retrieval, whereas students with lower scores use an area associated with quantity-processing mechanisms. The suggestion is that the ability to recall math facts (rather than do the sum from scratch) helps the students to go onto more complex mathematics.

The researchers used an fMRI scanner to examine the brains of 33 students (aged 17-18) as they performed simple, single-digit arithmetic. There was a clear association between particular areas of the brain and the students' scores in the PSAT math test (taken at age 15-16). The results suggest a correlation between arithmetic fact retrieval and higher scores, but more research is needed to see whether there is also a causational link - for example, whether interventions where lower-scoring students learn math facts lead to changes in brain activity and/or higher math scores.  

Johns Hopkins University

School of Education

Center for Research and Reform in Education

Research in Brief

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This sounds similar to making a golf swing or a dart throw automatic (a habit) as opposed to having to talk yourself through every swing or throw.  A different part of the brain is used once the process has been practiced over and over (muscle memory).  

With the understanding that different types of learners may have different "best" ways of learning "the facts," my next questions regarding math facts are:

1) What is the most time-efficient way for a teacher or parent to create automaticity (immediate recall) in students?

2) What is the most efficient method students should be using when working on learning "the facts" on their own?

And so I ask, what do you find to be a very effective and time-efficient method for teaching the facts? 

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