Interest Strategies

Interest is one of the five broad groups of strategies in the MUSICModel of Motivation.

Overview

“Students are more motivated to engage in an activity when they’re interested in the activity. I’m sure this is obvious to you, but what can be less obvious is what you can do in a college course to trigger students’ interest. Strategies that are part of the interest component of the MUSIC model are those that attract students’ attention, pique students’ curiosity, or stimulate emotional arousal in students. Professors have a lot of control over situational interest in a class because situational interest is a short-term interest that arises spontaneously in a particular situation (Schraw, Flowerday, & Lehman, 2001). In contrast, individual interests are those longer-term interests in topics or activities that students already have when they come to class. When students have an individual interest in a topic, they value the topic, they generally have quite a bit of knowledge about it, and they like it (Hidi & Renninger, 2006). For instance, students might have a situational interest in watching a video about sharks for 30 minutes during class, but might not have an individual interest in marine biology which leads them to study for years to pursue a career as a marine biologist.” (Jones, 2018, p. 141-142)

“Situational interest is important for teachers to consider because humans have a need for arousal and don’t like to be bored. Furthermore, humans are curious and want to discover new things and resolve uncertainties (Hidi, 2016; Hsee & Ruan, 2016; Jepma, Verdonschot, Steenbergen, Rombouts, & Nieuwenhuis, 2012).” (Jones, 2018, p. 142)

Questions for Teacher Reflection

Teachers should consider the following questions as they consider which interest strategies to implement (Jones, 2009, p. 278):

— Are students interested in the course activities (e.g., assignments, in class teaching approaches/activities)?

— Do students enjoy the course activities (e.g., assignments, in class teaching approaches/activities)?

Strategies

Interest strategies can be divided into the four sub-categories shown in this figure and explained below.

Examples

The bulleted examples provided below are just examples, there are many other ways to interest students in activities. It’s up to the teachers to decide which strategies are most appropriate for their classes. These examples are quoted directly from Jones (2018, p. 144 to 166).

Attention

Design instruction that catches and holds students’ attention.

Use novelty to attract students’ attention.
Help students to avoid multitasking.
Limit distractions during class.
Add some theatrical elements to your presentation (for example, humor).
Ask a question and call on a student randomly.
Be creative in your strategies to involve students in discussions.
Engage students in mindfulness, contemplation, and patience. “Mindfulness is paying attention to your life, here and now, with kindness and curiosity” (Saltzman, n.d., p. 1)
Tell students about software and apps they can use to limit online distractions in online courses.
Find a balance between sharing personal information and becoming a show-off.

Curiosity

Use activities that pique students’ curiosity about the content.

Use learner-directed approaches (e.g., problem-based learning, project-based learning, inquiry approaches, case studies).
Provide surprising information, which is something that students would not expect.
Introduce a contradiction in which at least two situations or ideas appear to be in opposition to one another.
Present a controversy and ask students to consider the different sides of the controversy.
When teaching a concept (e.g., democracy, momentum, falcon, haiku), provide students with examples and non-examples of the concept and ask them to generate aspects of the concept definition.
Include interesting information about the content.
Include materials from non-typical sources.
Use stories to explain a concept or to provide an example or analogy.
After instruction, survey students about which aspects of the instructional activities interested them.
Show an interesting image on the screen in front of the classroom as students enter class.

Arousal

Stimulate emotional arousal in students to avoid boredom.

Show enthusiasm for the course content and activities.
Be conscious of the pace of the lesson, in both face-to-face classes and online courses.
Organize your class meetings to avoid long periods in which students are required to listen.
Vary instructional activities over the course to maintain students’ interest and avoid boredom.
Use role playing as a way to activate students’ interest and emotions.
Create a pleasant learning environment.
Decrease debilitating anxiety because it can have negative effects on students’ motivation and learning.

Individual Interest

Design curriculum with a consideration of students’ individual interests.

Before instruction, survey students to determine their individual interests.

Motivation Theories

Interest strategies are based on many different theories, including (but not limited to) the theories listed here:

Interest Theories (click here for video) (Hidi & Renninger, 2006; Krapp, 2005; Schraw & Lehman, 2001)
Arousal (Duffy, 1957)
Intrinsic Motivation (click here for video) (Deci, 1975; Ryan & Deci, 2000)
Flow (click here for video) (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990)
Intrinsic or Interest Value (click here for video) (Eccles et al., 1983; Wigfield & Eccles, 2000)
Domain Identification (click here for video) (Osborne & Jones, 2011)
Theories related to emotions (click here for video) (Pekrun, 2009)
Neuroscientific research (e.g., Jepma et al., 2012; for a review, see Hidi, 2016)