The Power of Interest for Motivation and Engagement

The Power of Interest for Motivation and Engagement combines research from educational psychology and neuroscience to explain the important role of student interest in academics and life success. Drawing on cases both in and out of the classroom, the authors examine how interest is developed and sustained by learners, and assessed and interpreted by teachers. This volume is written for people who would like to know more about the power of their interests and how they could develop them: students who want to be meaningfully engaged, educators and parents wondering about how to facilitate motivation, business people focusing on ways in which they could engage meaningfully their employees and associates, policy-makers whose recognition of the power of interest may lead to changes resulting in a new focus supporting interest development for schools, out of school activity, industry, and business, and researchers studying learning and motivation. It draws on research in cognitive, developmental, educational, and social psychology, as well as in the learning sciences, and neuroscience to demonstrate that there is power for everyone in leveraging interest for motivation and engagement.