WEBVTT 00:00:11.096 --> 00:00:15.986 Researchers think a little differently about interest than everyday folk do. 00:00:16.206 --> 00:00:20.076 We tend to think of interest as something that a student either has or doesn't have. 00:00:20.426 --> 00:00:22.896 "I'm interested in sports," or, "I'm interested in music." 00:00:23.656 --> 00:00:26.456 And sometimes teachers feel like there's not much they can do about that. 00:00:26.456 --> 00:00:31.436 A student comes into your class, and he or she is interested in horses or interested in space, 00:00:31.436 --> 00:00:33.606 and that's the hand of cards you're dealt. 00:00:33.606 --> 00:00:35.276 You have to work with it, not much you can do. 00:00:35.576 --> 00:00:37.946 That's actually not what the research has shown us. 00:00:38.426 --> 00:00:43.336 Researchers think of interest more as a continuum where at one end of the continuum, 00:00:43.856 --> 00:00:50.556 it does look like that long-term interest-what researchers might call individual interest. 00:00:50.896 --> 00:00:56.446 It's something that is stable and long-term and it's-we are motivated to pursue things 00:00:56.486 --> 00:00:58.986 that we're interested in, and if we have frustrations 00:00:58.986 --> 00:01:00.726 in pursuing those things, we can deal with it. 00:01:01.036 --> 00:01:04.676 So that's where we're heading in the long-term interest, but for school kids, 00:01:05.016 --> 00:01:06.636 that's typically not what we see. 00:01:06.986 --> 00:01:10.286 We see the more beginning or emerging stages of interest, 00:01:10.526 --> 00:01:14.196 where a student starts just by being curious about something. 00:01:14.376 --> 00:01:16.676 Something sparks their initial curiosity. 00:01:16.676 --> 00:01:22.216 It gets their attention, and over time, when something gets their attention 00:01:22.216 --> 00:01:27.836 and they are engaging in some sort of task that they find attention-worthy, 00:01:28.276 --> 00:01:30.406 and they have a good experience with it-it's something 00:01:30.406 --> 00:01:33.276 that they enjoy-then they may return to that task. 00:01:33.506 --> 00:01:35.596 And that's how interest begins to form. 00:01:35.826 --> 00:01:39.366 On the other end of the continuum of interest, we have long-term interest, 00:01:39.366 --> 00:01:41.466 or what researchers call individual interest. 00:01:41.566 --> 00:01:45.666 And that's the-when we say a student is interested in something, 00:01:45.666 --> 00:01:47.016 that's usually what we're talking about. 00:01:47.016 --> 00:01:48.576 It's something that's within you. 00:01:48.846 --> 00:01:54.906 It's an internal state, and I know what I'm interested in and I seek out opportunities to think 00:01:54.956 --> 00:01:57.156 in that area or to participate in that area. 00:01:57.336 --> 00:02:00.246 If I encounter challenges or frustrations, 00:02:00.246 --> 00:02:04.476 I can persevere because I have this internal, deep interest in a topic. 00:02:04.786 --> 00:02:09.515 So that's where ultimately we're heading and that's what will drive students to pursue, say, 00:02:09.515 --> 00:02:11.946 a math and science career is when that exists. 00:02:12.686 --> 00:02:16.076 So that long-term interest is something that we are certainly after. 00:02:16.076 --> 00:02:22.966 In the practice guide, we're not identifying specific recommendations that target 00:02:23.066 --> 00:02:26.796 that exactly-the long-term interest, the end point of the continuum. 00:02:27.086 --> 00:02:31.526 Rather, we're saying to teachers, "It's more likely that your students, 00:02:31.526 --> 00:02:35.096 particularly at the K-12 level, are at some earlier phase 00:02:35.216 --> 00:02:36.796 where their interests are still developing. 00:02:37.156 --> 00:02:41.326 Whether you're tying into initial curiosity or whether their interests are just beginning 00:02:41.326 --> 00:02:45.176 to form and you need to think of ways to nurture and support that." 00:02:45.906 --> 00:02:47.706 Long-term interests don't develop instantly. 00:02:48.056 --> 00:02:50.776 You don't snap your fingers or wake up one day and you're interested in something 00:02:50.776 --> 00:02:52.256 that you were not interested in before. 00:02:52.626 --> 00:02:56.176 It's a developmental process, and teachers can do a lot to help students 00:02:56.176 --> 00:02:57.756 as they move along that trajectory. 00:02:58.496 --> 00:03:05.046 If it's inspiring their initial curiosity, there's things about interesting and relevant context 00:03:05.046 --> 00:03:06.976 or problems or group work in technology. 00:03:07.516 --> 00:03:11.806 When they're starting to develop those interests, we may feel that we need to nurture them by, 00:03:11.806 --> 00:03:14.496 for example, providing them access to role models. 00:03:14.596 --> 00:03:16.866 There's been a lot of research that shows this linkage 00:03:16.866 --> 00:03:19.056 between interests and academic performance. 00:03:19.056 --> 00:03:25.046 And we do see it at all grade levels, starting at a very young age when we try 00:03:25.046 --> 00:03:27.246 to assess kids' interest in elementary school. 00:03:27.516 --> 00:03:31.506 This is linked to elementary school performance and later outcomes as well. 00:03:31.506 --> 00:03:35.906 So we do see that link across all subject areas, across all ages. 00:03:36.196 --> 00:03:38.756 And as the authors of the practice guide, 00:03:38.756 --> 00:03:41.406 we really felt this was an area where we could capitalize. 00:03:41.406 --> 00:03:43.806 Teachers can really make a difference in kids' interest. 00:03:43.876 --> 00:03:47.146 The research on interest that shows that there's a gender difference in interest, 00:03:47.506 --> 00:03:49.866 is really about a snapshot in time. 00:03:50.156 --> 00:03:54.126 It's as if someone took a camera and had a way to capture interest, 00:03:54.126 --> 00:03:56.886 and they took a picture of students who were at that moment 00:03:56.886 --> 00:04:00.326 in time-whether it was third grade or sixth grade or seventh grade. 00:04:00.496 --> 00:04:04.566 And when you do that, you do see these differences in students' interests. 00:04:04.886 --> 00:04:09.786 But that snapshot doesn't tell you how that developed or why it developed. 00:04:10.176 --> 00:04:12.436 It's just where students are at at that moment. 00:04:12.816 --> 00:04:15.936 When we look to other research that looks at how interests develop, 00:04:16.255 --> 00:04:19.886 that's when we see that teachers can have a big impact on that development. 00:04:20.185 --> 00:04:24.446 This gender difference finding in students' interest is not something that handcuffs us. 00:04:24.826 --> 00:04:28.796 It's something that just shows us where students are at for a variety of reasons. 00:04:29.516 --> 00:04:35.716 Teachers can do a lot to build on students' curiosity that can ultimately change that snapshot. 00:04:36.036 --> 00:04:41.156 We know a lot about how interest develops and we know that it's getting them on the road 00:04:41.206 --> 00:04:44.916 to believing that, "Math is something that is interesting, that I'm capable in, 00:04:45.176 --> 00:04:51.146 that there are career paths involving women that I can do that build on my strengths in math. 00:04:51.506 --> 00:04:54.716 That if I work hard in math, I can succeed." 00:04:55.366 --> 00:05:00.556 So interest plays into that equation of helping us move students in their interest 00:05:00.556 --> 00:05:05.376 and we need to look beyond this sort of snapshot view of gender differences and interest. 00:05:05.456 --> 00:05:10.216 We are very comfortable saying, "Oh, my child or my student is interested in ballet. 00:05:10.436 --> 00:05:12.926 That will change because they're not necessarily going to be a ballerina." 00:05:13.356 --> 00:05:17.016 Whereas but if a student comes in and they say, "I'm not interested in math." 00:05:17.536 --> 00:05:20.226 Some teachers might think, "Oh well, it's a hopeless case. 00:05:20.226 --> 00:05:21.286 There's nothing I can do about it. 00:05:21.286 --> 00:05:22.406 They're not interested in math." 00:05:22.486 --> 00:05:26.046 Or parents will often say to their kids, "I'm not interested in math, 00:05:26.046 --> 00:05:27.626 you're probably not interested in math too." 00:05:28.616 --> 00:05:32.916 So why is it that we think that their ballet interest is something that will change over time. 00:05:32.916 --> 00:05:35.746 We think about interest in that way with ballet, but not in math. 00:05:35.746 --> 00:05:39.846 And I think our practice guide is trying to push a little on that and get us to think 00:05:39.846 --> 00:05:44.086 about interest as being initially something that students are curious about 00:05:44.396 --> 00:05:46.356 and can we capitalize on that curiosity? 00:05:46.396 --> 00:05:47.966 Can it develop over time? 00:05:48.336 --> 00:05:52.926 Can we do little things in the classroom that support students' curiosity, 00:05:52.926 --> 00:05:56.856 that initial interest, which is what researchers call "situational interest." 00:05:56.856 --> 00:05:58.156 It's just in a situation. 00:05:58.566 --> 00:06:04.746 For example, students are very interested in socializing and in group work. 00:06:05.076 --> 00:06:06.466 Often that's interesting to them. 00:06:06.516 --> 00:06:12.806 If a math task is situated in a group work context, then that might give it just that little bit 00:06:12.806 --> 00:06:16.056 of extra curiosity or interest that makes a math task 00:06:16.056 --> 00:06:20.846 that they might not have been particularly interested otherwise, interesting to them. 00:06:21.166 --> 00:06:27.076 Similarly, if aspects of math tasks are just a little puzzling-we know that kids are interested 00:06:27.076 --> 00:06:29.296 and curious when they find something that's puzzling 00:06:29.296 --> 00:06:31.216 or something that's kind of counter-intuitive. 00:06:31.456 --> 00:06:35.106 That kind of draws their attention a little bit, and if we can situate a math task 00:06:35.106 --> 00:06:38.656 or a science task in something that's puzzling or counter-intuitive, 00:06:38.986 --> 00:06:41.046 that's going to initially spark their curiosity. 00:06:41.946 --> 00:06:44.976 And that's what-there's a lot of little things like that 00:06:45.006 --> 00:06:48.756 that we're hoping teachers can think about, rather than thinking of interest as something 00:06:48.756 --> 00:06:52.676 that students either have or don't have that teachers can't really impact. 00:06:53.616 --> 00:06:56.786 Teachers might think, "Well, does that really make a difference 00:06:56.786 --> 00:06:59.856 if I just frame this task in terms of a puzzle? 00:07:00.126 --> 00:07:06.546 Or even if I change the names in this word problem so that they're students' names in my class 00:07:06.546 --> 00:07:09.936 versus some students that they don't know, how can that possibly make a difference?" 00:07:10.616 --> 00:07:14.786 So we're not saying that that is going to revolutionize student interest instantly, 00:07:15.186 --> 00:07:17.676 that that's going to turn students who don't seem to be interested 00:07:17.676 --> 00:07:19.916 into students who are loving math. 00:07:20.476 --> 00:07:21.716 It's not that easy. 00:07:21.746 --> 00:07:22.326 We know that. 00:07:22.386 --> 00:07:25.256 But these little things do matter and they do add up. 00:07:25.256 --> 00:07:26.486 Every little thing does help. 00:07:26.796 --> 00:07:31.066 So there are many little things that teachers can do that really can make a difference.