Effort counts: The moral significance of effort in the patterns of credit assignment on math learning in the Confucian cultural context

• Published in: International journal of educational development Vol. 39; pp. 157 - 162
• Main Authors: Fwu, Bih-jen, Wei, Chih-Fen, Chen, Shun-Wen, Wang, Hsiou-huai
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.11.2014
• Subjects: Confucian tradition; Credit assignment; Effort; Moral image; Credit assignment; Confucian tradition; Moral image; Effort
• ISSN: 0738-0593; 1873-4871
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijedudev.2014.07.010

•Effort/credit relationship is one of the contributing factors to Taiwanese students’ math learning leading toward outstanding performance.•Moral significance of effort plays a key role in parental and teachers’ credit assignment to motivate students to study hard on math.•This moral significance of effort manifests the deep-rooted Confucian cultural traditions of learning. Students in East Asia, including Taiwan, stand out on international math assessments and tend to attribute their achievement to effort. This study only focuses on the cultural factor with regard to the effort/credit relationship in math learning that may contribute to students’ math performance. It aims to examine why effort is valued and how parents and teachers assign credit for students’ effort, and thereby to establish a link among effort, moral image, and credit assignment. Questionnaires containing various scenarios were administered to three groups in Taiwan: 120 parents, 89 teachers, and 121 students. The results showed that as the mediating variable, moral image acts to explain how the relationship unfolds: Higher levels of effort lead to better moral image, thus resulting in more credit being assigned.