Motivating Science Learners: A Literature Review

Katherine Iverson
Western Oregon University

Introduction
Motivation is a necessary part of learning. Motivation is what drives learners to become
engaged in school. Even if they are capable, they have to also be motivated for learning to
occur. Fortunately all learners can usually be motivated, but the type of motivation will
determine actual learning. Some may be motivated to avoid classroom tasks where others will
be motivated to tackle those same tasks. Ideally students will be intrinsically motivated and want
to participate because of an innate desire to learn, however extrinsic motivators, like rewards
such as good grades, can also provide useful motivation. It is useful to consider cognitive factors
in motivation. A few to consider are students interests, self-efficacy, goals and how they value
the task. In recent studies, interest has been a topic of focus for motivating learners.
Understanding how that interest is sparked and how it develops into a deeper personal interest is
valuable to teachers across all disciplines.
Science
Science is a dynamic subject, not an isolated topic of study. It is frequently referred to as
an element of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). These four subjects are
interrelated because the knowledge of science and math is necessary for solving engineering
problems and developing new technology. Teaching STEM has been a recent focus for several
reasons. Too few students are not choosing to pursue STEM careers after graduating from high
school. Or some may start on a path towards STEM only to change to a different field of study.
STEM careers are also underrepresented by minorities and women. Why is this a concern? One
reason is that for the US economy to be globally competitive we need more qualified people
pursuing STEM careers. A second reason is that regardless of the career a person chooses they
will have to be educated about STEM to make informed democratic decisions for their

communities and the nation as a whole. For that same reason, students need to be science
literate. Our knowledge of the world is dynamic and will evolve as new technology leads us to a
better understanding. Students need to possess the skills to understand current science and the
desire learn science. The structure of the science classroom will have to adapt to the reality of
our changing world. Unfortunately not all teachers know how to make this change. The first
step to take is motivation. Motivating students to learn science and develop a solid knowledge
base. So the question is: how can teachers motivate students learning science?
Developing Interest
To answer the question of how to motivate students learning science, we will have to turn
to current research. Fortunately this is a topic that has been the focus of several recent research
studies. One common theme among the research was the importance of interest. Interest can be
personal or situational. Personal interest is unique to the individual, more stable and drives an
individual to want to continue to learn more about a topic. Situational interest is different
because individuals are inspired to learn by environmental factors such as a topic being new or
unusual. Situational interest can be triggered, maintained and possibly even evolve into personal
interest over time.
Initial interest in STEM is most often triggered at a young age (elementary school) where
students have the opportunity to build and explore (Maltese et al, 2014). It is not a surprise that
younger students are more innately interested in science. That interest deteriorates as students
progress from elementary to middle to high school. Interestingly, individuals that first became
interested in STEM in elementary school sited an innate interest or their parents as sparking that
interest but individuals that first became interested in middle or high school said that a teacher
was responsible for sparking that interest (Maltese et al, 2014). So it is more important for

teachers to focus on triggering and developing interest in middle school or high school. Maltese
et al concluded that broad based initiatives should be used to engage students of all ages in
STEM. Their research supports this conclusion because students initial interest and the reason
that interest was triggered varies greatly. It is useful for teachers to have specific strategies to
use in the science classroom. More research has been done to explore potential strategies.
Inquiry-based learning is one popular method. Students construct knowledge by asking
questions and doing their own investigations to answer those questions. This can be appropriate
for all age levels and it is similar to the exploration method that tends to trigger interest in STEM
at the elementary level. Inquiry-based learning has been shown to change the attitudes of
students that are resistant to learning science because they enjoy conducting experiments, that
interest is not persistent (Sever and Guven, 2014). The other contributing factor that may trigger
interest is parental support since it has already been mentioned that parents are sited as sparking
interest for those who first became interested in elementary school. When parents encourage
their child to do well in science they may be more likely to do well. Also, parents may expose
students to science learning experiences outside of the classroom. Interestingly some research
suggests while parental support may promote interest in learning math and science, there are
more direct factors that play a greater role (Garriott et al, 2014). In their study, parental support
did influence performance accomplishments. Those students that found success in previous
math and science learning activities had a greater self-efficacy. That increased self-efficacy was
directly related to an increased interest in learning.
Triggering and maintaining interest are equally important in motivating students in the
science classroom. Once teachers have triggered situational interest, continued engagement and
the guidance to make meaningful connections with the topic can lead to personal interest. The

Interest Combustion Triangle (Jack and Lin, 2014) or ICT illustrates the stimuli that is needed
for interest in learning science. To change students interest in learning science from negative to
positive, three things are needed: heat of novelty, fuel of involvement and oxygen of
meaningfulness. New or surprising learning activities are used to capture students attention.
Involvement in the activities, especially through group work can engage students. The final
component is for students to see how the topic is personally relevant or meaningful in their lives.
Understanding how their learning is personally relevant can lead to a continued personal interest.
Jack and Lin described a tool that could be used to support the ICT called K-W-L2-R. This tool
is adapted from a common teaching tool called K-W-L. The K-W-L is used by students to
identify what they know and what they want to find out before starting a learning activity
and what they learned after they have completed the activity. Jack and Lin modified this to
help students reflect on how the activity was meaningful. The modified K-W-L2-R has the
components of K-W-L, but the L has been split into two parts: what we learned and what we
still need to learn and addition of R asks how is this learning relevant to my life?
Learning Activity
The task or learning activities in the science classroom may also play a role in student
motivation. Depending on the age and development of the student, science task can be very
challenging. Especially when the task is more abstract. A task that has more concrete elements
throughout the activity is likely to increase student interest and motivate them to continue (A.
Tapola et al). This may be because they can connect with the content and finds its relevance in
their own lives.
Since research supports that younger students are more likely to become interested in
science then older students (Maltese et al, 2014) it is beneficial to consider why that is the case.

The structure of elementary school and the tasks presented can be more exploration based.
Exploration of the world around them, along with opportunities for self-expression and sharing
their learning could generate a greater curiosity for science (Luci and Hsi, 2014). That curiosity
could lead to greater interest and motivation for learning. This model of exploration is not that
different from inquiry based learning. Inquiry based learning was found as a useful strategy for
triggering interest, but not necessarily maintaining it (Sever and Guven, 2014). An additional
component that may be missing from inquiry based learning is the structure of a community of
learners. A more effective model may be involve giving students the opportunity to share what
they are doing and why and work together towards a common goal as they explore and construct
knowledge of the world around them (Luci and Hsi, 2014). Strategies such as the K-W-L2-R
could be applied here as well (Jack and Lin, 2014). After students have reflected on their own
learning, they can be share and reflect with each other.
Another way to present science learning activities is through the use of technology.
Technology has the potential to motivate students and improve student learning if it is used
effectively in the classroom. Some of the same learning activities can be presented with or
without technology. However using technology can exponentially increase the effectiveness of
the learning activity because feedback can be automated and it can be used to create a more
personalized learning experience (Butler et al, 2014). Since learners come in with a range of
prior knowledge and level of interests, technology is a tool that can be used to modify and
differentiate instruction. Other research supports that technology paired with an internship
component can motivate students by providing real-world experiences to apply their knowledge
within their community (Xie and Reider, 2013).
Conclusion

How can teachers motivate students learning science? Focus on interest. The current
research reviewed suggests several ways of sparking and developing interest to motivate science
learners. Other areas to explore might be how to increase the value of the learning activity, as
well as building student self-efficacy. When value and expectation of success are both high,
students are more likely to be intrinsically motivated. Also looking at ways of increasing
autonomy in the science classroom could be beneficial, because as students become more selfregulated learners their motivation to learn is directly affected. And finally, why do middle
school and high school students lose that innate interest that younger students possess? Both
childrens interests and their way of questioning the world may change over time, and we need a
better understanding of these processes and interactions, especially as they relate to sustained
interest in science (Luce and Hsi, 2014).

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