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Abstract
Learning motivation has a significant effect on student learning, which is a key determinant of academic performance and creativity. It is increasingly popular and important to cultivate learning motivation in schools. To consider this trend, a long-term intervention program named “Learn to Think” (LTT) was designed not only to improve students’ thinking ability but also to improve their learning motivation. The present study explored the effects of the LTT curriculum on primary school students’ learning motivation. The sample consisted of 158 Chinese primary school students, who were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. Experimental students participated in the LTT curriculum for 4 years, with data collected via pretests, annual end-of-year assessments, and a delayed posttest administration 1 year after terminating the training. The results suggest that LTT had long-term transfer effects on the development of primary school students’ learning motivation, especially on deep motivation.
FUNDING
This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31271110, 31470977), the National Social Science Foundation Key Project (14ZDB160), the Science and Technology Foundation project (2013IM030200), and the Program of Key Science and Technology Innovation Team in Shaanxi Province (grant no. 2014KTC-18).
Notes
1. Attrition had a differential gender effect on the control group, with fewer girls remaining in the study than boys, for which we have no explanation.
Additional information
Funding
Notes on contributors
Weiping Hu
Weiping Hu, PhD, is a professor at Shaanxi Normal University, director of MOE Key Laboratory of Modern Teaching Technology, director of the Center for the Development of Teacher Professional Ability, and deputy director of Collaborative Innovation Center of Assessment toward Basic Education Quality. His research focuses on creativity and science education. He has provided consultation and guidance for more than 100 primary and middle schools in 10 provinces and developed the “Learn to Think” activity curriculum aimed at cultivating the creativity of students, which has been used by more than 400 experimental schools. E-mail: [email protected]
Xiaojuan Jia
Xiaojuan Jia is a PhD candidate of School of Psychology at Shaanxi Normal University, as well as MOE Key Laboratory of Modern Teaching Technology. She majors in psychology, and her interests mainly focus on creativity and thinking ability, especially the cultivation of creativity and neural plasticity mechanisms of creativity. E-mail: [email protected]
Jonathan A. Plucker
Jonathan A. Plucker is Raymond Neag Endowed Professor of Education at the University of Connecticut, where he teaches in the Educational Leadership and Educational Psychology programs. His research and teaching focus on student learning, creativity and intelligence, education policy, and excellence gaps. He is now the Julian C. Stanley Endowed Professor of Talent Development at Johns Hopkins University. E-mail: [email protected]
Xinxin Shan
Xinxin Shan is a postgraduate of basic psychology, teacher of secondary school, director of the Preschool Education Department of Longgang Teachers’ Continuing Education Institute, the expert member of the continuing education course construction expert database in the kindergarten headmaster training center of Guangdong province. She is committed to research on primary students’ thinking ability, creativity, and preschool teachers’ professional development and training. E-mail: [email protected]