PISA in Focus
PISA in Focus is a series of monthly education policy-oriented notes designed to describe a PISA topic in a concise, user-friendly way.
Also available in: French
- ISSN: 22260919 (online)
- https://doi.org/10.1787/22260919
Is memorisation a good strategy for learning mathematics?
Fewer 15-year-olds in East Asian countries reported that they use memorisation than did 15‑year‑olds in some of the English-speaking countries to whom they are often compared.
In no PISA-participating education system did boys report more intensive use of memorisation than girls when learning mathematics.
Memorisation as a learning strategy may work with easy problems, but it is unlikely to be effective if it is the only strategy used when confronted with complex mathematics problems.
Also available in: French
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