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Title: DEGRADING MATH SKILLS: IT IS SUBJECT MATTER DIFFICULTY, NOT THE PASSAGE OF TIME, THAT MATTERS
Authors: John Leddo , Anjali Pillai , Jishnu Patel , Allison Hu , PrithikaKalavanan , Aneesh Sreedhara , Mahitha Anumola
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John Leddo1 , Anjali Pillai2 , Jishnu Patel2 , Allison Hu2 , PrithikaKalavanan2 , Aneesh Sreedhara2 , Mahitha Anumola2 1. Director of Research at MyEdMaster 2. Researcher at MyEdMaster
MLA 8 Leddo, John. "DEGRADING MATH SKILLS: IT IS SUBJECT MATTER DIFFICULTY, NOT THE PASSAGE OF TIME, THAT MATTERS." Int. j. of Social Science and Economic Research, vol. 6, no. 10, Oct. 2021, pp. 4091-4101, doi.org/10.46609/IJSSER.2021.v06i10.034. Accessed Oct. 2021. APA 6 Leddo, J. (2021, October). DEGRADING MATH SKILLS: IT IS SUBJECT MATTER DIFFICULTY, NOT THE PASSAGE OF TIME, THAT MATTERS. Int. j. of Social Science and Economic Research, 6(10), 4091-4101. Retrieved from doi.org/10.46609/IJSSER.2021.v06i10.034 Chicago Leddo, John. "DEGRADING MATH SKILLS: IT IS SUBJECT MATTER DIFFICULTY, NOT THE PASSAGE OF TIME, THAT MATTERS." Int. j. of Social Science and Economic Research 6, no. 10 (October 2021), 4091-4101. Accessed October, 2021. doi.org/10.46609/IJSSER.2021.v06i10.034.
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Abstract: While the mediating factors have been the subject of intensive research over the years, it has long been assumed that what we know decays over time. Much research has focused on the decay of academic knowledge for subjects like math and reading. The purpose of the present research was to quantify the loss of mathematics skills over a long period of time in elementary, middle school and high school students. Three comprehensive mathematics tests were constructed: one that covers 5th grade math, one that covers Algebra 1 and one that covers Algebra 2. 31 6th graders, 17 students enrolled in geometry (the course after Algebra 1), and 15 students in precalculus (the course after Algebra 2) participated in the present study. The 6th graders were given the 5th grade math assessment, the geometry students were given both the 5th grade math and Algebra 1 assessments, and the precalculus students were given all three assessments. Results showed virtually identical performance across students of different math classes when taking the same test and a linear decline in performance for older students taking multiple assessments such that they fared worse on the more recent material than they did on the older material, going against traditional human memory findings. Students at all course levels averaged in the low to mid 80’s in the 5th grade math assessment, geometry and precalculus students averaged in the mid 60’s in the Algebra 1 assessment, while the precalculus students averaged in the mid 40’s in the Algebra 2 assessment. Results suggest that subject matter difficulty rather than substantial passage of time accounts for decline in problem solving performance.

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