Dopamine and Motivation in Schools: Implementing Teaching Methods that Increase Dopamine Release and Motivation in Grades 6-12

A lack of motivation is one of the most common reasons for middle and high school students to dropout of or lose interest in school. By taking advantage of what we know about the role of dopamine in motivation, teaching methods could be altered to naturally increase the dopamine levels in students. Dopamine in the mesolimbic pathway, especially striatal dopamine, is involved in motivation and reward-response associations. Therefore, by changing teaching methods, it is likely that students will have higher levels of engagement and motivation in school, resulting in reduced dropout rates. Suggested teaching methods include, but are not limited to, implementing goal setting, properly used positive feedback, more social interaction, novelty, and technology. The only major resource required to implement these changes is professional development; however, there is a lack of financial resources available to study whether these methods would have the effect that is expected based on existing literature. This paper aims to use cognitive science to bridge the gap between neuroscience and educational studies in order to better understand learning and motivation. Understanding the mind is necessary to link the neurological underpinnings studied in neuroscience with the behavioral and environmental factors studied in educational studies