Promoting Interest and Performance in High School Science Classes

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 326; no. 5958; pp. 1410 - 1412
• Main Authors: Hulleman, Chris S, Harackiewicz, Judith M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Association for the Advancement of Science 04.12.2009; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Academic achievement; Academic learning; Academic motivation; Achievement; Adolescent; Biological and medical sciences; Biology - education; Curriculum; Educational Measurement; Educational psychology; Female; field experimentation; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; High school students; High schools; Humans; Information relevance; Learning; Learning motivation; Male; Motivation; Motivation research; Natural Science Disciplines - education; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Psychopedagogics. Didactics; Regression Analysis; Science - education; Secondary school science; Secondary school students; Student behavior; Student motivation; Students; Teachers; Teaching methods; Human; Grammar school; Daily living; Activity; Experimental study; Thaught subject; Learning; Acquisition process; Motivation; Sciences; Adolescent; Classroom; Psychopedagogy
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.1177067

We tested whether classroom activities that encourage students to connect course materials to their lives will increase student motivation and learning. We hypothesized that this effect will be stronger for students who have low expectations of success. In a randomized field experiment with high school students, we found that a relevance intervention, which encouraged students to make connections between their lives and what they were learning in their science courses, increased interest in science and course grades for students with low success expectations. The results have implications for the development of science curricula and theories of motivation.