Toward a Curiosity Mindset: Reframing the Problem of Student Disengagement from Classroom Instruction

Reduced student engagement in formal instruction is a problem that pervades classrooms across the educational spectrum. Students have been shown to commonly experience the negative emotions of boredom and inattentiveness (Bunce, Flens, & Neiles, 2010; Mann & Robinson, 2009; Young, Robinson, & Alberts, 2011) as well as vigilance decrement (Grier et al., 2003). Studies have revealed that more than 40% of high-school students usually remain disengaged from learning (Usher and Kober, 2012) and few (as little as 8%) reach a developmental level characterized by intrinsic motivation, attention, and effort (Lawson & Masyn, 2015; Scherrer & Preckel, 2018). Because student interest in the instructional topics and pedagogical activities rapidly decreases or is completely lost, students withdraw their attention from instruction in favor of off-task behaviors such as daydreaming, doodling, or inappropriate use of technology (Adams, 2006; Bugeja, 2007; Fink, 2010; Gilroy, 2004; Nworie & Haughton, 2008). Despite teachers’ best efforts, maintaining high levels of student interest during class time and avoiding disengagement from the learning process constitutes a challenging pedagogical endeavor, particularly in the context of classroom discussions and lectures (Lemke, 1990; Nunn, 1996).