Enhancing Adolescents' Motivation for Science

Because motivation is the key to scientific literacy

Within every science classroom there are students waiting to be inspired. All these students need is the right motivation. That’s exactly what this one-of-a kind guide will help you provide. And along the way, you’ll quickly learn that the motivational tools that are most effective with adolescent boys don’t always work with adolescent girls—and vice versa.

At the heart of Enhancing Adolescents’ Motivation for Science is a collection of research-proven strategies on how best to motivate students in science—and once students are motivated, scientific literacy soon follows. Across chapters, Shumow and Schmidt
• Detail key motivational constructs specific to science with illustrative vignettes
• Address gender differences that influence how girls and boys are motivated
• Describe how to make science learning relevant, accessible, and enjoyable
• Reduce science anxiety and build student confidence, especially among girls
• Offer motivational strategies that are consistent with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

Much more than a professional book, Enhancing Adolescents’ Motivation for Science also includes a companion website packed with video clips, links, and tutorials. All in all, there’s no better resource for fueling the student motivation so central to science literacy.

“This is an impressive book. . . .One of the greatest challenges you face as a teacher is how to motivate all of your students—girls and boys—to learn science. In this book, Shumow and Schmidt help you to meet this challenge.”
— Shawn M. Glynn,
Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor,
University of Georgia

“If you want to help your students succeed in science and could use some help achieving this goal, this book is for you. It is practical, driven by research, and has something for every science teacher to use.”
— Randy Cook, Science Teacher
Tri County Area Schools, Howard City, MI