Learning for growth, health or community led to better grades and more activities

The study

1. 01

   Who took part

   801 students in three Belgian studies took part: 200 first-year women training to be preschool teachers, aged 19 to 20. Another 377 were marketing students aged 18 to 19, and 224 were high-school students in grades 10 and 11.

2. 02

   What they did

   Each class got four versions of the instructions, handed out at random. The instructions gave one of two reasons to learn, and were worded as a choice or as an order. Students then read a text on recycling or business communication, or learned a fitness routine called Tai-bo.

3. 03

   What happened

   Students with growth, health or community reasons got better grades than those with money or image. This held in all three studies. They also took up more extra activities and said they wanted to learn for their own reasons. Choice-style wording also helped, but some numbers for the extra gain don't match.

What the study found

1. HelpedGoals

   Learning for growth, health or community led to better grades in all three studies.

   • Action: List the benefits of finishingtested

   Randomised trial of 801 college and high-school students in Belgium · vs learning for money or image · behaviour was recorded · ⚠ numbers unreliable; summary claims more than the results show

2. HelpedGoals

   Learning for growth, health or community also led to more extra work, in all three studies.

   • Action: List the benefits of finishingtested

   Randomised trial of 801 college and high-school students in Belgium · vs learning for money or image · behaviour was recorded · ⚠ numbers unreliable; summary claims more than the results show

3. HelpedOther outcomes

   Learning for growth, health or community led students in the first two studies to study more deeply and skip less.

   • Action: List the benefits of finishingtested

   Randomised trial of 801 college and high-school students in Belgium · vs learning for money or image · behaviour was recorded · ⚠ numbers unreliable; summary claims more than the results show

4. HelpedMotivation

   Learning for growth, health or community made students want to learn for their own reasons in all three studies.

   • Action: List the benefits of finishingtested

   Randomised trial of 801 college and high-school students in Belgium · vs learning for money or image · behaviour was recorded · ⚠ numbers unreliable; summary claims more than the results show

Source