Learning about failures of famous people can motivate students



In a study, 402 9th- and 10th-grade students from four New York City high schools in low-income areas  were divided into three groups. 

Group 1 read an 800-word typical science textbook description about the great accomplishments of Einstein, Curie and Michael Faraday, an English scientist who made important discoveries about electromagnetism.
Group 2 read about those scientists’ personal struggles, including Einstein’s flight from Nazi Germany to avoid persecution as a Jew. 
The third group of students read about the scientists’ intellectual struggles, such as Curie’s persistence despite a string of failed experiments. The struggle stories included actions the scientists took to overcome these hurdles.
At the end of a six-week grading period, students who learned about the scientists’ intellectual or personal struggles had significantly improved their science grades, with low-achievers benefiting the most. The students in the control group who only learned about the scientists’ achievements not only didn’t see a grade increase, they had lower grades than the previous grading period before the study began. 




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Development Myth

Eliminating Elevator waiting time complaints with Mirrors

100 Years Ago Sears Sold Cheap Mail-Order DIY Homes!