The Effect of an Interest Approach on Knowledge, Attitudes, and Engagement of High School Agricultural Science Students

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of using an interest approach at the beginning of a lesson on student knowledge, attitudes, and engagement in an agricultural science classroom. A total of four classes were randomly assigned and administered one lesson with an interest approach and one lesson without an interest approach. Following each lesson, the students’ knowledge and attitude were assessed. During each lesson, student engagement was measured. The content of the lessons was adapted from the LifeKnowledge curriculum (National FFA Organization, 2004). The conclusions of this study were contradictory. Overall, there was no difference in knowledge from the students who were exposed to interest approaches to those who were not. In addition, as a whole, there was no difference in attitude between the students who received exposure to an interest approach and those who did not. However, having an interest approach at the beginning of a lesson did make a difference in student engagement throughout a lesson, with students receiving an interest approach being more engaged. Recommendations and implications are provided.