When surveyed by the HSSSE, 50% of students said that they get bored in class every single day. Then, when asked why they got bored, 75% of students said that the material was not interesting, and another 39% of students said that the material was not relevant to them (“Voices of Students on Engagement”). From theses statistics, it is clear that students do not become engaged in the learning experience if they have little or no interest in the topic being taught. In Activating the Desire to Learn by Bob Sullo, he outlines when people are “made” to do a task, they generally do not put forth maximum effort; people often do only the minimum required to complete the task (Sullo). This principle is relevant to the experience many students receive in the classroom in a formal educational setting. Students usually do only what they are required to do in school. The desire to actually learn is not present because they are being forced to sit in a class where truck loads of information of little interest to them is being dumped and burying …show more content…
They need to be encouraged to find passions and interests and to dive deep into them. I believe that this is the key to forming successful people. There is no simple solution to the issue at hand because this concept cannot be forced upon students because then it would be quite contradictory. The point is for students to engage in learning on their own, on each their own interests. However, students should be encouraged and allowed time to engage in learning on their own, no matter what the topic is. With that being said, it can be tough to encourage students to learn on their own. Who would rather sit down and take the time to read and learn instead of relaxing and watching some TV? Nevertheless, allowing for this time without structure and specific curriculum will improve the likelihood of more students finding passions, interests, and hobbies, because with that will come the desire to