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Copyright © 2017 Arizona Board of Regents, All rights reserved SanfordInspireProgram.org
For a complete list of references, refer to the On-Demand Module ‘Preparing to Differentiate: Student Interest.’
Preparing to Differentiate: Student Interest
Transcript
Chapter 1: Introduction
Bird's-eye
Transcript:
This is a module on preparing to differentiate according to student interest. This module is part of a series
dedicated to the topic of differentiation.
If you are new to this topic, access The Basics of Differentiation, an introductory express module that explores
foundational mindsets, beliefs, and terms.
Modules in the “preparing to differentiate” group will teach you how to gather pertinent information about your
students before implementing a strategy.
Modules in the “strategy” group will teach you how to differentiate instruction based on information you gather
from the “preparing to differentiate” modules.
Click on each module icon for a description. Click “Proceed” when you are ready to continue.
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Copyright © 2017 Arizona Board of Regents, All rights reserved SanfordInspireProgram.org
For a complete list of references, refer to the On-Demand Module ‘Preparing to Differentiate: Student Interest.’
Agreement
Transcript:
Learning about your students’ interests is a process that occurs throughout the school year; it’s more than just
giving students a questionnaire during the first week, then filing it away. Student interest is one of the most
important means through which teachers can differentiate instruction (Hidi, 2006; Middleton & Jansen, 2011).
In fact, along with other factors, student interest predicts academic performance (Harackiewicz, Barron, Tauer,
& Elliot, 2002). When students are interested in what they learn and the activities they do, they learn more
(Swarat, Ortony, & Revelle, 2012).
Why it's Important
Transcript:
It’s challenging to keep track of the numerous student interests that exist in your classroom. Knowing how to
gather, organize, and sort this information can help.
Student interest is important because of the positive feelings that arise from participating in interesting activities.
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Copyright © 2017 Arizona Board of Regents, All rights reserved SanfordInspireProgram.org
For a complete list of references, refer to the On-Demand Module ‘Preparing to Differentiate: Student Interest.’
When students participate in a learning activity that is connected to their interests, their motivation and
engagement increase (Fredrickson & Brannigan, 2000; Hidi, 2006).
Teacher Interviews
Transcript:
Let’s take a look at how two teachers used information about student interest in very different ways. Mr. Clark
and Mrs. Arredondo were asked these questions:
Watch each teacher’s response then select “Proceed”.
Mr. Clark
Transcript:
I mean I think, like most people when I first started teaching, I’d give a student survey in the beginning of the
year, or I would ask questions about the students’ likes and dislikes. I’d ask for parent contact information. I’d
gather the surveys back, you know in the first week of school and I’d maybe kind of flip through the information,
and like, you know, try to remember some things for later when I was having conversations with the students.
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Copyright © 2017 Arizona Board of Regents, All rights reserved SanfordInspireProgram.org
For a complete list of references, refer to the On-Demand Module ‘Preparing to Differentiate: Student Interest.’
But I never really organized it. And maybe after the first week of school the only time I would ever use it would
be to find what a student’s phone number was so I could call about, like a behavior problem or a behavior
issue.
Mrs. Arredondo
Transcript:
I gathered information in the beginning of the year, through surveys. I also would have the beginning of the
year type get-to-know you games so that students were able to pair up and get to know each other based on
their interests. I also use interest, student interest, during lessons. So if I knew a child loved dogs, I would use
their name and also, you know, “Shelia had seven dogs” in a math problem to just, kind of, build that
community within the classroom and getting to know you. And then I also used a newsletter where the students
each month, or each week, became student of the week and they were able to kind of share their interests and
be the spotlight in the classroom. But I would also meet with them one-on-one and it just built a bond between
myself and the students. And then also when the students were able to learn about each other’s interests, they
were able to connect at a different level than just being students or peers.
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Copyright © 2017 Arizona Board of Regents, All rights reserved SanfordInspireProgram.org
For a complete list of references, refer to the On-Demand Module ‘Preparing to Differentiate: Student Interest.’
Recap
Transcript:
Take a moment to review a few key points from each video. Both teachers gathered information about their
students but did very different things with it. Click Proceed when you are ready to continue.
Benefits
Transcript:
When teachers take the time to learn about and use student interest throughout the school year, it helps build
community in the classroom. Incorporating students’ interests makes them feel valued, and helps get them
excited to learn (Tomlinson & Moon, 2013; Puckett, 2013). In addition, when teachers provide students with
meaningful and interesting activities, their motivation and engagement will increase (Hidi & Renninger, 2006).
One quick note: it’s next-to-impossible to incorporate each student’s individual interests into every lesson that
you teach. That is not the intention of this module. Instead, you will learn three steps to help prepare you to
differentiate based on student interest.
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Copyright © 2017 Arizona Board of Regents, All rights reserved SanfordInspireProgram.org
For a complete list of references, refer to the On-Demand Module ‘Preparing to Differentiate: Student Interest.’
Chapter 2: Learn About Students
Overview
Transcript:
The first step is to learn about your students. One way to do this is to administer a general student interest
questionnaire. You would use this type of questionnaire to gather information about topics such as students’
likes, dislikes, or hobbies.
These questionnaires can be teacher-generated. The supplemental document entitled Student Interest
Questions can help you learn more about your students’ interests. This is by no means an exhaustive list of
questions, but it does provide a starting point.
Teachers can administer this questionnaire via paper and pencil or by using an online format such as Google
Forms.
Data from a general questionnaire can be used to inform how you group students, or to provide choice in
learning activities.
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Copyright © 2017 Arizona Board of Regents, All rights reserved SanfordInspireProgram.org
For a complete list of references, refer to the On-Demand Module ‘Preparing to Differentiate: Student Interest.’
Content-Specific Questionnaire
Transcript:
Another way to gather data is to create and administer a content-specific questionnaire. This can be used to
learn about student interest related to a particular unit or topic that was not on the general questionnaire. A
teacher creates a content-specific questionnaire as he or she is planning the unit. Click on the grade band
most relevant to you to see an example.
Early Elementary
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Copyright © 2017 Arizona Board of Regents, All rights reserved SanfordInspireProgram.org
For a complete list of references, refer to the On-Demand Module ‘Preparing to Differentiate: Student Interest.’
Elementary
Secondary
Observations/Conversations
Transcript:
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Copyright © 2017 Arizona Board of Regents, All rights reserved SanfordInspireProgram.org
For a complete list of references, refer to the On-Demand Module ‘Preparing to Differentiate: Student Interest.’
The use of questionnaires is not the only way to learn about your students’ interests. Teachers can learn a lot
about their students just by observing them. An easy way to accomplish this is to be aware of current pop-
culture trends or events that may interest students (Duncan-Andrade, 2004).
Another way for teachers to obtain anecdotal information about interest is to informally chat with students.
Consider having these conversations in the cafeteria, in the hallway between classes, or at the beginning or
end of the school day.
Chapter 3: Organize Information
Overview
Transcript:
Once you have learned about what your students are interested in, you are ready for step two. The second
step is to organize information gathered during step one. This can be accomplished by creating a record of
common and individual interests. There are different ways to organize data. Use the one that works best for
you.
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Copyright © 2017 Arizona Board of Regents, All rights reserved SanfordInspireProgram.org
For a complete list of references, refer to the On-Demand Module ‘Preparing to Differentiate: Student Interest.’
Examples
Transcript:
Here are a couple examples of how you might organize data, click on the one you’d like to learn more about.
Spreadsheet
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Copyright © 2017 Arizona Board of Regents, All rights reserved SanfordInspireProgram.org
For a complete list of references, refer to the On-Demand Module ‘Preparing to Differentiate: Student Interest.’
Notecards
Chapter 4: Identify Trends
Overview
Transcript:
The third step of learning about student interest is to sort the data. The purpose of sorting through data is to
identify common and unique trends. It isn’t possible to connect to each student’s interest in every lesson.
However, you can identify trends and themes in what interests your students, and use this information to
differentiate instruction (Fredrickson & Brannigan, 2000; Renninger, Ewen, & Lasher, 2002).
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Copyright © 2017 Arizona Board of Regents, All rights reserved SanfordInspireProgram.org
For a complete list of references, refer to the On-Demand Module ‘Preparing to Differentiate: Student Interest.’
Examples
Transcript:
You can identify trends by sorting data into broad categories such as “hobbies”, “personal information,” or
“school experiences”. Then, narrow the description into a specific interest such as “sport”, “favorite musician”,
or “favorite class or subject”. Then, list students who share that interest.
Let’s take a look at an example. For this class, the teacher would like to have students work in groups based
on the books they prefer to read. First, he sorts the data according to students’ favorite books to see if any
trends emerge. He notices that two students like “Divergent”, one student likes “The Giver”, and two students
like “The Hunger Games”. These books all fall under the genre of fiction and even more specifically, dystopian
and utopian fiction. So, even though they are all different books, they share a similar theme and the teacher
decides to group these five students together when he forms literature circles. These students will likely be
more engaged and motivated throughout upcoming activities and tasks because their teacher took the time to
learn about and incorporate their interests into the content (Beringer & Hidi, 2006; Fredrickson & Brannigan,
2000; Krapp & Lewalter, 2001).
Now let’s sort the data for unique student interests. These are interests that are specific to one, or maybe two
students. In this example, Suzy’s interest in visiting museums is pretty unique. Suzy’s teacher can use this
knowledge in a few ways. He can allude to this interest during informal conversations. He can also use it as the
basis for an example when he’s trying to explain a concept to her.
When teachers show interest in a student’s interests, it’s a form of validation that can increase student
engagement and motivation (Deci, 1992; Hidi, 2006).
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Copyright © 2017 Arizona Board of Regents, All rights reserved SanfordInspireProgram.org
For a complete list of references, refer to the On-Demand Module ‘Preparing to Differentiate: Student Interest.’
Chapter 5: Conclusion
Interview: Missed Opportunities
Transcript:
Learning about student interests is important. Let’s revisit Mr. Clark as he discusses how he could have
learned about and used student interest in his own classroom.
Video
Transcript:
What I learned once I was actually able to reflect on it was just what a huge missed opportunity it was. You
know? Because I have this distinct memory of - at the end of my first year of teaching - cleaning out my
classroom and throwing a bunch of stuff away and coming across the student surveys that I had given at the
very beginning of the year. And coming to realize, oh my gosh, like if I had known this about this student, it
might have totally changed the way that I interacted with them, or approached them about things. Or I could
have used some of this information about the things students knew a lot about or were interested in to develop
really compelling examples when I was explaining something new. Or, you know, I taught middle school so I
was trying to match students with books they enjoy reading. Like, that kind of information would have been
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Copyright © 2017 Arizona Board of Regents, All rights reserved SanfordInspireProgram.org
For a complete list of references, refer to the On-Demand Module ‘Preparing to Differentiate: Student Interest.’
hugely beneficial.
I think that if you actually use it and take the time to use this information to begin building what you know about
your students, it can have an incredibly positive impact on both your classroom culture and your instruction.
Call to Action
Transcript:
In order to effectively differentiate for student interest, you first must take the time to learn what your students’
interests’ are, then organize the information, and identify trends. Next you consider how you can fit these
interests into your instruction. When you make this effort, your students will be more interested, motivated, and
engaged (Beringer & Hidi, 2006; Deci, 1992: Fredrickson & Brannigan, 2000; Hidi, 2006).
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