Kids Can Learn to Love Learning, Even Over Zoom
There
are ways for teachers to nurture curiosity — and they’re especially important
in online classes.
By Adam Grant and Allison Sweet Grant
Dr.
Grant, a contributing opinion writer, and Ms. Grant, a psychiatric nurse
practitioner, are the authors of “Leif and the Fall.”
·
Sept. 7, 2020, 11:00 a.m. ET
“Can independently mute and unmute
himself when requested to do so.” That’s praise we never expected to see a year
ago on our son’s kindergarten report card. We’re so proud.
As the new school year begins, many
students are learning virtually, either by personal choice or requirement — and
many parents and teachers are concerned that students will fall behind in their
knowledge. But a greater risk to our students may be that they lose their
curiosity.
Whether students are in kindergarten or
college, knowledge is always attainable. Teachers can and will catch kids up on
their multiplication tables and periodic tables. But in school and in life,
success depends less on how much we know than on how much we want to learn. One
of the highest aims of education is to cultivate and sustain the intrinsic
motivation to learn.
A classic study found
that world-class artists, athletes, musicians and scientists typically had an
early coach or teacher who made learning fun and motivated them to hone their
skills. An analysis of 125
studies of nearly 200,000 students found that the more the students enjoyed
learning, the better they performed from elementary school all the way to
college. Students with high levels of intellectual curiosity get better grades than their peers, even after
controlling for their IQ and work ethic.
Unfortunately, remote learning can
stifle curiosity. For students, it’s easy to zone out. Staring at a screen all
day can be exhausting. For teachers, transmitting excitement into a webcam is
not a simple task: it can feel like talking into a black hole. Technical
difficulties mean that key points get lost and even brief communication delays
can make students seem disengaged,
crushing rapport and killing timing.
Still, there are ways for teachers to
nurture interest in learning — and they’re especially important in online
classes. Three key principles are mystery, exploration and meaning.
Curiosity begins with a mystery: a gap
between what we understand and what we want to find out. Behavioral
economists argue that an
information gap is like an itch. We can’t resist the temptation to scratch it.
Information gaps can motivate us to tear through a whodunit novel, sit glued to
the TV during a quiz show or stare at a crossword puzzle for hours. Great
teachers approach their classes the same way: They open with a mystery and turn
their students into detectives, sending them off to gather clues.
For example, if you’ve ever watched
dolphins closely, you might have noticed that they’re awake for remarkable
stretches of time. A typical dolphin can stay alert and active 24 hours a day
for 15 days straight. How do they do it?
Given all the
challenges of going online, it’s natural for teachers to focus on just getting
through the material. But remote learning is perfectly suited to mystery —
teachers need to find the right puzzles for students to solve.
If gaps in knowledge are the seeds of
curiosity, exploration is the sunlight. Hundreds of studies with thousands of students have shown that
when science, technology and math courses include active learning, students are
less likely to fail and more likely to excel. A key feature of active learning
is interaction. But too many online classes have students listening to one-way
monologues instead of having two-way dialogues. Too many students are sitting
in front of a screen when they could be exploring out in the world.
Leaving a desk isn’t just fun; it can
promote a lasting desire to learn. In one experiment,
researchers randomly assigned thousands of students to take a museum field
trip. Three weeks later, when the students wrote essays analyzing pieces of
art, those who had visited the museum scored higher in critical thinking than
those who did not make the trip. The museum-goers made richer observations and
more creative associations. They were also more curious about views that
differed from their own. And the benefits were even more pronounced for
students from rural areas and high-poverty schools.
When field trips aren’t possible,
teachers can still take students on virtual tours and send them off to do
hands-on learning projects. In the past few months, our kids have been lucky to
learn from social studies teachers who challenged them to survey people about
their stereotypes of the elderly, computer science teachers who invited them to
design their own amusement parks, and drama teachers who had them film their
own documentaries.
Meaning is the final piece of the
motivation puzzle. Not every lesson will be riveting; not every class
discussion will be electrifying. However, when students see the real-world
consequences of what they are studying, they’re more likely to stay engaged.
Psychologists find that when college students have a purpose for
learning beyond the self, they spend more time on tedious math problems and
less time playing video games and watching viral videos. And high schoolers get
better grades in STEM courses after being randomly assigned to reflect on how
the material would help them help others. That’s a question every teacher can
ask and answer, even over Zoom: Why does this content matter? When the answer
to this question is clear, students are less likely to doze through class with
one eye open.
Or, in the case of dolphins, with one
side of their brains open. They can put one hemisphere of their brains to sleep
and leave the other alert. That’s how they stay active for two weeks straight.
The purpose of school is not just to
impart knowledge; it’s to instill a love of learning. In online schools and
hybrid classrooms, that love doesn’t have to be lost.
One good thing about virtual school is
that children are building skills that will serve them well throughout their
lives. Although learning how to mute and unmute himself is not something we
ever thought our kindergartner would need to know, it’s one of many new skills
from online classes that will continue to come in handy. And for those adults
who are still having trouble with that particular skill (you know who you are),
he’s available for online instruction.
Adam Grant is an organizational psychologist at Wharton and
contributing opinion writer. Allison Sweet Grant is a psychiatric nurse
practitioner and writer. They are married and co-authors of the new children’s
book “Leif and the Fall.”