Effects of a Critical Thinking Skills Program on the Learning Motivation of Primary School Students

Abstract

Learning motivation has a significant effect on student learning, which is a key determinant of academic performance and creativity. It is increasingly popular and important to cultivate learning motivation in schools. To consider this trend, a long-term intervention program named “Learn to Think” (LTT) was designed not only to improve students’ thinking ability but also to improve their learning motivation. The present study explored the effects of the LTT curriculum on primary school students’ learning motivation. The sample consisted of 158 Chinese primary school students, who were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. Experimental students participated in the LTT curriculum for 4 years, with data collected via pretests, annual end-of-year assessments, and a delayed posttest administration 1 year after terminating the training. The results suggest that LTT had long-term transfer effects on the development of primary school students’ learning motivation, especially on deep motivation.