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Letter to the Editor
Motivation and Improvement of Student Performance
Jeffrey A. Appel, Fermilab
It has become routine to call for improvement in teaching
as the road to improved science and mathematics performance by American
students. While there is certainly room for improved teacher preparation
and familiarity with content, we also need to place some focus on student
motivation outside the classroom. Since there is no single way to improve
motivation across the full range of K-12 and higher education levels,
we should be exploring options and solutions at all levels.
The largest increase in interest in science and mathematics
probably occurred in the Sputnik era. At that time, science and mathematics
were widely viewed as demonstrably necessary for the national self-interest.
We were in a "space race" with the Soviet Union. It was a
matter of national defense. Yet, much of what caught the attention
of young students must have been seeing that Sputnik beacon of light
crossing the clear night sky. And, not just students. Who did not look
to see it at least once? America also poured money into a variety of
science and mathematics projects - perhaps as quickly as research projects
could be devised. There was no issue of whether one could hope to make
a career of science. It was a national calling. The future would take
care of itself.
Today, many have said that science and mathematics
are necessary for our nation's economic security. We are in an economic
race with the rest of the world. Yet, we do not have an equivalent
of the Sputnik beacon for all to see. And we do not have American programs
which excite the young peopleto judge by the declining enrollments
of American students in science and mathematics curricula at the higher
education levels. We do have science projects which jockey for position
with limited funding, even in a time of Federal budget surplus. We
do have limited employment opportunities in some of the most attractive
basic research fields.
Can we learn something about motivation from the Sputnik
era which is relevant to today? Certainly, the situation is different
in important ways. There was an environment which fostered interest
in science and mathematics then. Some of that broader societal interest
must be recaptured if teachers are to succeed in interesting a broader
range of students to science and mathematics. Should we not be more
aggressive in the support of basic science projects which will capture
the interest of all?
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