Cause of Motivational Patterns

Interest supports learning by increasing student's attention, motivation, engagement, and use of learning strategies. Situational interest (Shraw et al, 2001) can also help initiate the development of longer-term personal interest.

Q: Who are some figures, outside of parents/guardians, that can motivate students to garner this interest in the first place?

A: TEACHERS! 

Teachers can increase interest through meaningful choices!

Example: Students might choose among several appropriate books, project topics, formats for demonstrating learning, or homework options. Having a choice can foster autonomy, ownership, and responsibility, especially for students who initially have little interest in the topic.

Expanding on picture books, the quality of the reading material matters. Students tend to find texts more interesting when they are:

• Coherent: ideas are logically organized and easy to follow (ex: Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown)

• Relevant: the purpose of reading and connection to student’s goals are clear (Ex: Teacher has a lesson about families, potentially a book about families would work for this, like You Are Loved - A Book about Families by Margaret O'Hair) 

• Vivid: they include imagery, suspense, surprise, or distinctive but instructionally relevant details (Ex: The Doghouse by Jan Thomas)

Interest in the classroom also has important individual factors to consider (Bergin 1999):

• Belongingness: students are more likely to care about material connected to their culture, community, identity, or important relationships.

• Emotions: past positive or negative experiences with a subject can shape future interest. 

• Competence: students are more likely to engage when they believe they can succeed and will not be publicly embarrassed for struggling.

• Utility and goal relevance: interest rises when students see how a topic helps them accomplish a personally meaningful goal.

• Background knowledge: knowledge and interest often reinforce one another, students can become especially curious when they notice a "hole" in what they already know.

Is there a type of a curriculum that is based off of the interest of a student? The Montessori Method is structured like this!