Increasing Situational Interest in the Classroom

By: Gregory Schraw, Terri Flowerday and Stephen Lehman

There are a number of ways to increase situational interest; however this article focuses on only a select few. It has been found that by offering students choices their interest increases dramatically. Their feelings of self-determination increase which lead to increased intrinsic motivation, interest and engagement. By selecting well-organized texts students’ interest is also increased. However, there are three main factors that have a great impact on situational interest. The text must be coherent or easy to understand, relevant or relate directly to the reader in some way and vivid which adds suspense to the text and keeps an individual reading. These variables have been found to increase interest which leads to a deeper understanding of the material. Background knowledge is yet another factor that affects interest. Topic knowledge is information the reader has about a specific topic, whereas, domain knowledge is information the reader has about a specific field of study. Research shows that interest is related to knowledge, and that the more you know leads to a greater interest in the material. Finally, students who are active learners show a greater interest in the material and in turn form a deeper understanding. This can be done by teaching students how to summarize, predict and use study strategies that help them to identify what they know, want to know and have learned.