Spurring from a growing concern over the literacy requirements of students in a Middle school science class, Holli Eddins Forrest in “Using Literacy to Engage Adolescents in Science,” asserts that it is not literacy that causes students to “hate science,” but the way in which information is presented. In the article, Forrest aims to analyze motivation and engagement of Middle school children in a Science class, to determine the root of the problem and highlights ways in which educators can cultivate the necessary literacy skills required to keeps students motivated and engaged. After analyzing the different forms of motivation in promoting reading literacy, researchers have determined that students that are more intrinsically (internally) motivated tend to be more confident in their literacy capabilities. In contrast, students that are extrinsically (externally) motivated tend to be less proficient in their reading capabilities. Based on these findings, it is recommended that educators place the emphasis on task goals, which focuses on learning, as opposed to performance goals, which are oriented towards outcome, in order to facilitate the development of intrinsic motivation in their students.
“Teachers who emphasize task goals create an environment where mistakes can be made and true learning can occur” (Forrest, 2015). This environment, the author says, is important to the development of literacy skills in students because it encourages them to develop effective learning strategies. Forrest believes that as teachers continue to place emphasis on learning rather than performances, adolescents will begin to learn through inquiry. Inquiry-based learning is geared with a student-centered approach, where teachers use the scaffold. . as well.
In my opinion, everyone that is interested in a career in the education field needs to have a copy of this article to read and gain insight from about techniques that should be used to increase the likelihood that students will learn and develop good habits for self-regulation. I say this because the article outlines numerous ways to engage students and equip them with the tools necessary to stay motivated as they discover new things. I believe that as educators, we should all make it a priority to keep students engaged and motivated to accomplish their goals. It is my firm belief that in order to meet the different needs of the students and produce students that are competent in reading, writing, listening, and speaking, teachers should have multiple methods of presenting information to engage adolescents in order to help them to understand its relevance.
