Do you ever find yourself more willing to participate and pay attention more in a class you enjoy than classes you don’t? Okay, it may seem like it’d be just common sense that if you find something interesting, then you’d be more attentive, but hear me out.
Not only are we more likely to pay attention if a subject interests us, but our brains also retain more of the information. Learning is fueled by curiosity, and that curiosity allows our brain to basically be a sponge absorbing it. (Stenger).
Learning based off of interest builds an eagerness to ask questions and get answers to have the ability to learn more, as well as encourages using active learning and listening. Interest-focused learning is only limited by the learner’s ability to ask. It’s about feeding the want and need for questions and knowing more about the topic. It also focuses on wonder, being able to pinpoint and amplify the person’s interest (Engler).
Fascination and curiosity is a motivational process that adds fuel to the fire of learning. This fuel, in turn, causes students to be more engaged, pay more attention, take more courses involving said topic, and process information more effectively (Harackiewicz). Students who actually like a topic are more likely to pay attention, keep the information, and stay focused for longer (Arduini-Van).
What Do THS Students Think?
Freshman Piper Schwartz said that her most interesting class is “…sixth period ELA,” because they are, “learning good things.”
Contiuing, she stated that she does feel like she learns more from this class, “because [she has a] good teacher,” and that she feels like she “probably pays attention more” in that class.
When asked if she wanted to add anything, Piper said that, “Mrs. Carson is the best teacher.” Which is a fair accusation.
Noah Pickard, a junior, had a similar response, saying that, “English 101” was the most interesting.
Elaborating, he said that he was, “never a big fan of English, but Ms. Schaake makes English fun.”
He said his attention levels were, “so-so because I have senior friends in the class, so not as much as I should, but more than previous years.”
He added that the class was “wonderful” because it’s so, “inclusive and I respect Schaake because she’s down-to-earth and has the connection of a friend more than just a teacher.”
Payton Hunter, a freshman, had a difference in the type of class, saying that the most fascinating is “Tech Theater because we’re making sets soon,” and because they “get to actively work on stuff.”
She said that she “learns a lot from all my classes, but it’s (Tech Theater) more fun because of friends,” but she also
does like McNeely.
Payton said how she pays attention in “all my classes,” but she really has to pay attention in tech theater “because we use tools and I don’t want to lose a foot, or a finger, or chop my hair off.”
Her add-on was that in tech theater, they “learn a lot about theater and get hands-on experience,” going on to say how they’re currently “making scenes” and how it’s “pretty fun,” and mentioned how they “have tables to work at.”
Maybe you learned something new, perhaps about a peer, or even something about interest and curiosity. Even if you didn’t, you showed interest in the topic, and maybe you want to know more, and may ask more questions.
Citations:
Arduini-Van, Nicole. “Interest as Motivation.” Educational Psychology, Press Books, 2020.
https://edpsych.pressbooks.sunycreate.cloud/chapter/interest-as-motivation/
Engler, Bob. “How Do Interest-Based Activities Support Learning?” Connections Academy, 27 September 2022, https://www.connectionsacademy.com/support/resources/article/how-do-interest-based-learning-activities-support-learning/.
Harackiewicz, Judith M., and W. Johnson. “Interest Matters: The Importance of Promoting Interest in Education.” PubMed Central, 30 June 2016, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5839644/. Stenger, Marianne. “Why Curiosity Enhances Learning.” Edutopia, https://www.edutopia.org/blog/why-curiosity-enhances-learning-marianne-stenger.
