How to motivate students to study?

Question

Mathematics

What do you think needs to be introduced or changed in the educational process in order not only to make schoolchildren learn more, but to really interest them in such subjects as physics, mathematics and computer science?
My question relates mainly to the three subjects listed, and especially to physics, but if you have any thoughts about other subjects, then write too.

Answer 1

Only a fascinating presentation of the material by the teacher with the maximum involvement of the audience. All other attempts will either have no effect, or only negative.

Answer 2

He graduated from physics and mathematics that year (the real one, and not from which one name).
Most of all I remember our physicist. A cheerful man - he loved to tell stories from life in the classroom, physics went with him in one breath. By the way, we didn’t have a textbook, we studied only according to its notes. And this is how he got out of the situation: he chose a couple of students from the class (who in themselves are complete zeros, but trainable and easy to motivate) and intensively coached them to olympiads, conferences, and so on. Behind them, the rest of themselves pulled themselves up. The class was completely regulated by itself (respect for him played a very important role), he always asked even if he wanted to at home (we never talked about any negative assessments). But he was not friends with the humanities classes and had a very bad opinion of them (in terms of physics / mathematics, there are solid invalids there).
The main thing is to love your subject and love to teach children. Motivation must come from you first.
PS Since the 8th grade, the lessons have been solving level C problems from the Unified State Examination to international Olympiads, a bunch of his students take places at various levels of Olympiads (I remember one who took third place at the international one) and in all sorts of conferences. So there are still chances for Russian education :-)

Answer 3

Can I clarify the APVS: Are you a school teacher who wants to motivate your students? Or are you a parent and you are afraid that your children will grow up to be boobies?
It's just that, as you understand, the answer to this question (You: teacher / parent) depends on how individual the approach will be . And how much will be the balance between "leading children in the right direction" or vice versa "encourage and develop, following natural inclinations."
If we talk specifically about physics , then a couple of simple DIY crafts made together with the child can really interest the child.
At what, most importantly , with sufficient commentswhat exactly are you doing.
In essence , your trick is to connect theory and the interest of its application in practice:
* For example, when soldering, calculate the current strength in the circuit using formulas, so as not to burn a delicate microcircuit, for example, or show how to choose the correct polarity of the LED.
* When doing something flying, show how you use the formula to calculate "take off / do not take off" the mass of the device and the engine used. If the “flyer” has wings, paint what forces act on them, why the “flyer” has a tail, how to make this flyer not collapse in flight, but behave steadily.
* By collecting something that can be driven, you can show how to calculate which obstacles the device will be able to call in and which ones it won't. And from the characteristics of the material, calculate how much cargo can be loaded onto this “rider” so that it does not break.
* When doing something that shoots, show how you calculate how far the projectile will travel depending on the spring you choose.
* When you work with some material, you can and should comment on what and how and why it works. For example, during soldering, tell why solder must be heated to a certain temperature, what cold soldering is, why degrease wires, etc.
A very important factor is to remove the child’s uncertainty in finding the right information :
Just show the child how you, for example, if you don’t remember the exact formula or don’t know the characteristics of the radio component of interest, use the reference book . This is very important so that the child does not get dumb when he is faced with something that he does not know by heart.
Also, show your child how you read ready-made diagrams, what you pay attention to in order to understand them. Show what you are doing to change the characteristics of the circuit you are using.
Your task is not to make you learn the theoretical basis of physics, but to show how this theory is applied in relation to what is of interest! By the way, a side effect: for the interest in physics, the “pumping of mathematical skills” is usually automatically pulled up.
Yes, if you do everything right, very soon an interested child quickly gains independence, and it will be normal for you if, when you come home from work, you will see radio components with a soldering iron laid out on the child’s table. Let the child experiment on their own. But always try to help him when he has questions.
PS: What I am writing about, I know from my own experience. My father and mother, as engineers, always, at every opportunity, gave me something interesting to “play around”. And given that there were a lot of reference books and other technical literature in the house (which they generously threw at me, in the form of all sorts of popular science magazines and books), we can say that some of the best moments of my childhood passed "with a soldering iron and a screwdriver." Then, however, already closer to the mid-eighties, computers appeared and the focus of my attention shifted towards IT, and I began to apply my engineering approach to writing programs, but this, however, is a completely different story.

Answer 4

You can't "motivate" at school. “Learn the proof of the theorem, otherwise I’ll call dad”? o_0
Only one thing is needed: the teacher must interest the student.
If the school teacher could not do this, then the student has only one thing left: to become interested himself, and to sit in the classroom with a smart look “How boring it is, “my” physics is more interesting.”
The teacher should tell in an interesting way, but here it’s how lucky: he knows how to do it by nature or not. In physics (as in other subjects) you can tell entertaining facts. Even such little things as "The average mass of one drop of water is 0.05 grams (1023 molecules)" or "511.8 km / h is the highest wind speed ever recorded on Earth" can brighten up the lesson a little (the facts were taken from the magazine "Popular mechanics". In history, we periodically discuss the latest news, it is also possible to discuss articles in physics.). If the teacher himself is not interested in his subject, he will not be able to interest the student in any way.
There are times when a teacher loves a subject, but by nature does not explain well, usually it is immediately noticeable.
When the time comes, the student himself will understand that he needs to take this or that subject, only then will he have motivation.

Answer 5

It seems to me that the teacher should develop as a speaker. For example, when I studied at the university at many lectures, our group simply slept / went about their business, but there were teachers who did not leave anyone indifferent throughout the whole couple, for example, at psychology lectures there were always some games, discussions, reports and all the group was intrigued.

Answer 6

Pay attention to the transmission of "Galileo" on the STS channel. Take an example from them. A bunch of schoolchildren watch it and they are really interested.

Answer 7

It is necessary to correct the attitude of schoolchildren to the school as a whole, and not to some individual subjects, otherwise you will not see the result. The problem is not even in the schoolchildren themselves, but in the way teachers present the material in the post-Soviet space. The school works according to the scheme "memorize - tell - get an assessment." Schoolchildren cram the text without delving into the material, after which they safely forget about it. Well, what kind of interest in learning can we talk about in this case? The worst thing is that the initiative of such a model of teaching comes from teachers.

Answer 8

A good teacher + The student should know what this Olympiad will give him + Show who you can become by knowing this subject => Motivation => Good knowledge of the subject => Participation in Olympiads in this subject + Motivation => Good result at the Olympiad => And there already everything will go by itself...

Answer 9

I don't think it's relevant anymore. Now education is paid and costs a lot of money.
In autumn, only those children whose parents will be able to pay the required amount for education will go to school. Because of this, parents themselves will drive their children to study, otherwise, it turns out that the money is thrown away.
One mention of the moment that the teacher will call the parents will be enough for the child to start learning.

Answer 10

It seems to me that children need to be shown 2 main things:
1. what interesting / amazing / fun things you can do (regarding physics, spectacular experiments)
2. how useful it can be for them in life (as clearly as possible)
How to do it, already depends on the teacher. Here, the most important thing is that he himself “burns” with his subject (in moderation, of course, without blind fanaticism). You can dilute boring lectures with jokes or stories from life (even if a little fictional). You can give some interesting experimental tasks at home, involve the students themselves in conducting experiments in the classroom, and so on.
Some interesting videos:
habrahabr.ru/blogs/popular_science/81452/
livescience.ru/category_2/sid=4fe889a

Answer 11

I think that children can be interested in visual experiments. Learning should take place in a playful way. Or, for example, encourage those who are most active.

Answer 12

I also graduated from the physics and mathematics class and would like to share my opinion. I may be repeating myself, sorry about that. Another important fact is that the student must be interested in the subject itself. In our class, many did not like those. items because they just went the wrong way. It is worth considering exactly the level of knowledge that these young people need. Without it, I don't think so. We have such a problem with the theory of random processes at our university, the doctor of science who teaches us the whole thing simply does not understand that they do not keep up with him and do not understand him. Ask, ask the students about what they understand and what is not, I think this approach will bear fruit.
With physics, it seems to me easier in terms of the fact that there is such a thing as an experiment, visibility, as noted above, is an undeniable plus. But what to do with mathematics? Here, everyone who is passionate about her does not particularly ask this question, because they gravitate towards theoretical knowledge (I am one of them), but those who simply cannot tolerate those. objects, for him "matan" is hell. But it seems to me that you can apply the approach of success of those people who know him perfectly. Economists, brokers and others. A good example, a reason to take up the subject.
Informatics at the moment is an integral part of society, after all, automation and the widespread introduction of computers speaks for itself. Let's even take the fact that you asked this question on Habré. I think this is a strong argument.
Thanks for reading and interesting question.

Answer 13

It is easy to apply storytelling to physics and, of course, you need to show a lot of experiments.

Answer 14

I studied in a regular secondary school, after the 9th grade, when we were formed into specialized senior classes, I naturally kicked the air - “father with a belt” did not work, audience involvement too (there was one interesting physics teacher - she was able to interest, but she was fired due to conflict with the director (the aunt was nasty)).
Two days (moreover, both days off) before the expected transfer to the information technology class, I was informed that the class had not been formed, because. recruited only 10 people, that is, naturally threw (I do not believe that it was impossible to report earlier).
After this incident, I changed school - I moved to a good physics and mathematics lyceum. Here the picture was completely different - an interesting and adequate teacher was not an exception, but the rule. Even the most boring and uninteresting subjects were more interesting than any other in the old school.
For 2 senior classes that I studied at this lyceum, I got motivation and desire to study, I greatly improved my knowledge in all subjects of the school curriculum. Today I passed all the tests and went to the session - I am finishing the first year of a technical university, and already in a specialty far from IT, which, however, I do not regret - IT has become a hobby, and besides that, I am getting an education in another field (hydraulics).
Moral: good teaching staff and attitude towards students are quite capable of motivating them

Answer 15

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