Exploring motivational mechanisms to learn in a national chemistry projects competition: lessons from a retrospective study

The “We Have Chemistry!” national projects competition was originally developed in 2008 as a non-formal, engaging learning environment to increase high-school students’ motivation to study chemistry. Participants submit chemistry-related projects under STEM/STEAM categories of their choice. A previous study demonstrated that participation might increase students’ motivation to learn chemistry. This retrospective study focuses on gaining insights into the benefits of this long-running educational program, elucidating possible underlying mechanisms by which participation impacts students’ motivation in relation to competition format and the development of interest. Forty-three competition ex-participants participated in this study, which followed a mixed-methods approach. Causation coding qualitative analysis of narrative data revealed three plausible motivational mechanisms related to the competition format and its components: revealing new contexts for chemistry, engaging in self-directed learning, and targeting personal interest, which were all supported by quantitative data analysis results. Our findings also suggest that for some students, the competition format might facilitate the further development of a personal interest in chemistry that they inherently possess. The combination of contextualized and personalized learning seems to give rise to non-traditional learning processes that target interest, nourish intellectual and emotional needs, and are connected to the motivation to learn chemistry. Results also highlight the teachers’ role in promoting student enrollment. The implications of this research apply to the design of other educational programs that aim to increase adolescents’ motivation to learn science: they support both the practice of combining non-formal and traditional school settings and the practice of designing learning environments that address student heterogeneity.