INTERESTS
Learning Motivation .
Motivation to learn is the whole of the driving force that is found in students to result in the emergence of learning activities, which will ensure the continuity of the learning process also gives direction to the learning activities so that the objectives to be achieved by the learning subject can be realized.
Interest is an activity carried out by students who have a fixed tendency to pay attention and remember some activities, it is also an important factor that can influence learning motivation
Interest as a part of the continuous motivation for learning activities.
4 Potential Variables Influencing Interests
1
Feeling of happiness
Happiness is a subjective inner psychological experience, and happiness is the true meaning and purpose of education.
Teachers immerse students' happiness experience in the whole process of teaching mathematics, and introduce students into the world of pure and noble emotions. Let students enjoy the happiness of learning mathematics, so that they can grow up harmoniously and healthily.
2
Student Curiosity
Curiosity is an intrinsic motivation, the psychological tendency of individuals to notice, manipulate, and ask questions when faced with new things and new environments. Curiosity is also the individual's desire for knowledge, which motivates the individual to learn new ideas, bridge information gaps, and solve knowledge problems.
Curiosity is the psychological basis for interest, so developing students' interest in learning mathematics begins with mobilizing their curiosity.
3
Student Attention
Lack of attention is a major factor that affects students' learning performance. During the teaching, inattentiveness makes students unable to follow the teacher's teaching ideas and think deeply about their knowledge.
Therefore, to a certain extent, interest can play a role in improving students' concentration. When students are interested in what they are learning, they can focus on learning and thus produce better learning results.
4
Student Involvement
A truly engaged classroom should not be passive, given, required or driven by conditions. It should be a participant-initiated, voluntary, and equally interactive act.
Students' interest in the content can influence how engaged they are in the learning process.
Methods to Help Promote Interests
1
Teaching resources interestingly
- Implementing heuristic teaching to stimulate students' cognitive interest
The key to implementing heuristic teaching is to create problem situations. This requires teachers to study the teaching materials carefully, dig deep into the inner rules of knowledge and the interconnection between old and new knowledge, and fully understand the cognitive structure of students. The unique attributes of mathematics, such as rigor, abstraction, simplicity and generalization, can be used in a clever way to stimulate students' interest and induce their active thinking, so as to create a good problem situation.
- Change the presentation of examples and exercises to stimulate students' interest in learning
Students in the early grades are often more interested in things that are active, so if you can make these static resources "active" and further enhance their interest, they will definitely catch the students' eyes.
2
Gamification in teaching process
- Let students "get into" the practice problems in the textbook
In the exercise, students are asked to think of the characters in the book as themselves. This way, students will feel that the topic is closer to them, and they will feel more intimate.
- Give students opportunities for hands-on, personal involvement
By giving students the opportunity to get involved, students are fully motivated to experience success in their participation.
- Use games, competitions, and more to stimulate students' interest in participation
Edutainment is a combination of education and entertainment that relies on visual materials, narrative or game-like formats, and more informal and less didactic presentations. Through edutainment, learners learn material in an enjoyable environment. The goal of edutainment is to engage and maintain the learner's emotions through computer displays filled with vivid colorful animations.
3
Diversify incentives
- Discover students' strengths and praise them often
No matter who has merits in learning, even if it is just a very small bit, praise should be given in time, so that students will have more confidence to meet the challenges in learning.
- A combination of verbal and material rewards
The younger students tend to be more attracted to material rewards because they are still young. Draw small pictures and make headdresses and pectorals to show recognition of their learning.
- Individual honor linked to the group, to cultivate the spirit of teamwork of students
Example: Each group has a mock "ladder" with a small red flag at the top of the "ladder". Whichever group climbs the ladder first wins.
References:
Putra, W. D. P., & Setyaningrum, W. (2018). The effect of edutainment toward students’ interest in learning mathematics. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 1097(1), 12120–. https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1097/1/012120
Yeh, C. Y., Cheng, H. N., Chen, Z.-H., Liao, C. C., & Chan, T.-W. (2019). Enhancing achievement and interest in mathematics learning through Math-Island. Research and Practice in Technology Enhanced Learning, 14(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41039-019-0100-9