The Attention Triangle — How To Use Interest To Capture and Hold Learners’ Attention

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My definition of learning is to remember what you are interested in. If you don’t remember something, you haven’t learned it, and you are never going to remember something unless you are interested in it. These words dance together. ‘Interest’ is another holy word and drives "memory." Combine them, and you have learning. — Richard Saul Wurman

Humans are curious creatures. They devote a lot of effort and brainpower to the things that interest them.

The need for learning is pressing in infancy. Baby humans are cute but ignorant; they have a lot to learn. Early research on infancy found that exploration, play, and diverse experiences enhanced motor and perceptual learning.

As a source of intrinsic motivation, interest plays a powerful role in the growth of knowledge and expertise. When interested;

• students persist longer at learning tasks,
• spend more time studying,
• read more deeply,
• remember more of what they read, and
• get better grades in their classes.

The purpose of interest is to motivate learning and exploration. By motivating

people to learn for their own sake, interest ensures that people will develop a broad set of knowledge, skills, and experiences.

So, what exactly is the definition of interest?

Interest can be defined as a positive feeling or a state of attention or motivation directed towards a specific object, activity, or topic.

It is a complex and dynamic process that can be influenced by a variety of factors, such as personal relevance, challenge, and curiosity.

Personal relevance refers to the degree to which the topic is seen as important or relevant to the student’s life.

Challenge refers to the degree to which the task is perceived as difficult but manageable, and

Curiosity refers to the degree to which the task is perceived as novel and intriguing.

When can something be said to be interesting?

In the theories of optimal experience, feelings of absorption, concentration, and interest come from tasks in which a person’s skills match the task’s level of challenge.

Interest stems from events that are new, complex, and unfamiliar, provided that people feel able to comprehend them and master the challenges that they pose.

Interest motivates learning about something new and complex; once people understand the thing, it is not interesting anymore. The new knowledge, in turn, enables more things to be interesting.

In short, if people appraise an event as new and as comprehensible, then they will find it interesting.

How then can interest help us to enhance learning?

In order to help educators evoke interest in their learning environment, below are a series of step-by-step guides they can follow:

1. Assess learners’ prior knowledge and interests: Before beginning a new topic, it is important to assess learners’ prior knowledge and interests in the subject matter. This can be done through pre-assessments, surveys, or informal conversations.
2. Make the learning material relevant: Once you have assessed learners’ prior knowledge and interests, try to make the material relevant to their lives by connecting it to their personal experiences or interests. For example, if you are teaching a science lesson on photosynthesis, you could ask learners to think about how plants grow and are used in their daily lives.
3. Provide a challenge: Make sure that the material is challenging but manageable. This will ensure that learners are motivated to learn and will not become disengaged.
4. Encourage curiosity: Encourage learners to ask questions and explore the topic in a way that is novel and intriguing. For example, you could provide opportunities for learners to conduct experiments or engage in hands-on activities.
5. Use varied teaching strategies: Use a variety of teaching strategies such as lectures, discussions, and hands-on activities to keep the learners engaged and interested.
6. Provide feedback: Provide timely and specific feedback to learners on their progress and understanding of the material. This will help them to see the relevance of the material and how it is connected to their personal interests.

Interest plays a crucial role in engaging and retaining learners’ attention. By creating an environment that fosters personal relevance, challenge, and curiosity, educators can increase learners’ interest in their learning material and enhance their learning outcomes.

References

• Berlyne, D.E. (1960). Conflict, arousal, and curiosity. New York: McGraw-Hill.
• Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. New York: Harper & Row.
• Silvia, P.J. (2005b). What is interesting? Exploring the appraisal structure of interest. Emotion, 5, 89–102.
• Silvia, P.J. (2006). Exploring the psychology of interest. New York: Oxford University Press.