The 0Maths blog

About time

Speed seems to be a universally recognised metric of maths ability. Exams are against the clock. Most maths websites are also against the clock.

Why speed?

For a number bond or multiplication question, a fast response tells us the answer is coming from long term memory, as we want. For a more complex question it shows familiarity with the question type. So far so good.

Why not speed?

1. Pressure to calculate quickly actually hinders memory formation [Chuderski, 2016].
2. Switching to a different strategy is necessary at certain points in a child's maths education. They'll need to learn to add past 10 with their socks on, for instance. The pressure to always respond quickly and accurately discourages this transition. Learning needs a little wiggle room. [Wu et al, 2022]]
3. Memory is all we're really measuring with speed. Memorisation of facts (eg, tables) is a reflection of how much students are exposed to those facts, and not indicative of mathematical ability at all (i.e. it's on the teachers and parents, not the students). Pupils should not think that they are bad at maths because they take longer than their peers to memorize facts. There are many brilliant mathematicians who suck(ed) at arithmetic. To quote George Bergman, "Mathematics is thoughts, ideas. But arithmetic! It's drudgery, just adding and multiplying and performing these boring operations over and over again."
   Yes, they need to learn their tables but let's not exagerate the implications of not finding this engaging.
4. Counter-intuitively, children who take longer are often better at maths (Sharpe and Hughson, 2019). "The length of time taken to achieve correct answers dispels the myth that 'to be good at maths you must be fast at maths'. Those learners who achieved more highly took longer to calculate the answers. Learners therefore require time to successfully undertake numeracy exercises."
5. Students who are slower to remember numeracy facts (ie need more repetitions) may rely more on strategies and therefore can become better mathematicians in the long run, simply because they end up doing more actual maths. It's a shame that those students are often put off by frequent speed-based testing. [Hunt et al, 2014. Study not freely available, but referenced here by Steve Chin]

Generally time is a (flawed) progress indicator, not a teaching tool. We do still record (and make use of) question answering times, but generally only in the background, except for timed tables questions, where we set a time limit in order to prompt students to set their best times. Arguably the timing is not for the student's direct benefit - it's so that we have better data about the student's abilities.