As someone who is studying to become a teacher, we are constantly talking about how we can motivate students who may not interested in a specfic subject such as science. How can we encourage student's to want to learn if they have a bias against the subject from past experience? I struggled with science as a kid so by the time I reached high school, I had already decided I was 'bad' at science. I do not want my students to feel like this. Any tips?
Hi Lindsey,
This is a very great question to ask that can have multiple answers to it. As a preservice teacher myself, I would say the biggest tip of adivce that I have learned through going to several field experiences is simply help students understand the meaning as to why they are learning something. If students are able to understand the 'why', than they will learn and work toward the 'how'. Helping students understand the meaning of a specific subject area make look a little differen't based on what it is you are teaching about. One way I have seen a teacher bring out the excitment in students is by relating the topic to things that they enjoy in their personal lives. For example, in one unit my teacher was describing what space is and she found a really quality educational video game online about space that all the students loved and enjoyed. As far as motivation goes, I am not sure if you can motivate someone to like science, but rather explain the meaning as to why they are learning something so they can relate with it. Do you have any other good ideas to help breakdown the the meaning of concepts for students that you have come across? I would love to here them! Are their any fun activities that you know that students enjoy in the classroom?
Luke
Hi Lindsey!
Your post caught my attention! I am also currently studying to become a teacher, so with my experience so far I 100% agree with you in regards to how we are in fact constantly talking about how we can motivate students who may not be interested in a specific subjects, like even science. To answer your question, I think that we can encourage students to learn even if they have something against a particular subject from past experience by making it different. I can also say that I struggled with science as a kid and felt the same way about my abilities in the subject. With that being said it makes a huge difference to be able to understand that there might be students who feel a negative way towards different subjects. My biggest tip would be to make it unlike any experience. Most importantly, I think as a teacher it is so important to know what your students are interested in and be able to incorporate that in some way because they will have no reason to not be fully engaged. If teachers understand why their students feel a specifc way about something they will have an easier time with making it a better experience. I hope this gets you thinking of even more ways to keep your students interested in learning new things. I would love to hear them!
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