Increasing situational interest in the classroom

This paper explores three ways to increase situational interest in the clas sroom. Situational interest is defined as temporary interest that arises sp ontaneously due to environmental factors such as task instructions or an en gaging text. We review the history of interest research and summarize recen t empirical work. We describe three ways to increase interest based on offe ring meaningful choices to students, selecting well-organized texts that pr omote interest, and providing the background knowledge needed to fully unde rstand a topic. We conclude with six specific suggestions for increasing si tuational interest in the classroom.