Effects of a classroom discourse intervention on teachers' practice and students' motivation to learn mathematics and science

• Published in: Learning and instruction Vol. 35; no. February 2015; pp. 94 - 103
• Main Authors: Kiemer, Katharina, Gröschner, Alexander, Pehmer, Ann-Kathrin, Seidel, Tina
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.02.2015
• Subjects: Classroom discourse; Didaktik; Interesse; Interest; Intervention; Klassenraum; Lehrerbildung; Lehrerfortbildung; Self-determination theory; Teacher professional development; Unterricht; Self-determination theory; Interest; Intervention; Classroom discourse; Teacher professional development
• ISSN: 0959-4752; 1873-3263; 1873-3263
• DOI: 10.1016/j.learninstruc.2014.10.003

Student interest and motivation in STEM subjects has dropped significantly throughout secondary education, for which teacher-student interactions are named as a central reason. This study investigated whether a video-based teacher professional development (TPD) intervention on productive classroom discourse improved students' learning motivation and interest development over the course of a school year. The teachers' intervention group (IG; n = 6) was compared with a control group (CG; n = 4) who participated in a traditional TPD programme on classroom discourse. The teachers showed a significant increase in constructive feedback and decrease in simple feedback as a function of the treatment. Pre- and post-tests revealed that students in the IG (n = 136) significantly increased their perceived autonomy, competence and intrinsic learning motivation as compared with those in the CG (n = 90). They also showed significantly greater interest changes in the subjects compared with their peers in the CG. (Verlag).