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ABSTRACT
In this study, we tested the hypothesis that students in a college chemistry course would learn the material better if the lesson contained examples that they had judged to be interesting. Subjects received a two-page lesson followed by a test. We expected the treatment group (“interesting lesson”) to perform better on the posttest than the control group (“textbook lesson”). Results of the pilot study indicated no main effects for gender or type of instruction and no interaction of gender and type of instruction. After observing a ceiling effect in the pilot study, the handouts were modified to give a longer lesson and a more difficult test for the actual experiment. Results of the actual experiment indicated main effects for gender (with males scoring higher) and type of instruction. This second effect was opposite that predicted. There was a significant interaction effect, with the performance of females being more positively influenced by textbook instruction than the performance of males.