Interest is the Key to Learning

In preparation for my learning key presentation this week, I spent lots of time exploring the idea of interest serving as a central motivator to learning. While its always been common sense that you're likely going to spend more time on and return to things that you find enjoyable, reading up on the role that interest has to play in the classroom gave me a completely new perspective on the world around us operates in general. 

My lightbulb moment came from understanding how interest itself develops. The article I read to prepare my presentation explained how momentary situational interests, if given the opportunity to be fostered and fueled with curiosity, develop into long lasting individual interests which can eventually build off other concepts to create a generally interested personality type. What struck me was an analogy provided in the reading about horseback riding. 

The analogy described the difference between how two individuals approaching the activity for the first time. For one individual, maybe a young child who doesn't know much about horses, is very likely they are to become uninterested in horseback riding if they step in horse excrement the first time they ever tried riding a horse. Instead, someone who has had a lifelong love for horses and an interest in horseback riding would not be turned off from this experience, since getting their shoes dirty is not enough to make them like horses any less. 

This comparison gave me a new insight into how our minds function, making sense of many common experiences. For example, it made me think about the basis on which fears develop, and how they often start from an unpleasant or traumatic experience after initial exposure to something. It also made me realize how fragile interest really is, reflecting on how many things have to go right in a learning environment in order for students to be engaged, cognitively stimulated, and excited to know more. 

I have to say this experience exploring the idea of interest as a key motivator captured my own curiosity in the topic, and has inspired me to share the ideas that I have read with family and friends. It also motivated me to explore psychology in general, sparking a desire to learn more about how the mind works. It really is true that interests build off each other in a domino effect! I hope you found this as interesting as I did!

Courtesy of AlessiaC@OTU