Motivation changes through project work in primary school

During a visit at the Zurich International School - an Inquiry School - in Wädenswil, the author of this thesis raised the question if a regular Swiss school could be taught in a similar fashion and asked if the pupils' motivation for school would increase. This thesis investigates the changes in the motivation of 5th graders as the author conducts an experimental project work with two school classes from Eastern Switzerland. The Students of the 5th grades are introduced to the Inquiry Cycle how it is used at the Zurich International School. This Inquiry Cycle is used as guideline through the project work. The motivation of the students taking part in the experiment plus a class with similar background, which served as a reference group, was measured with a self constructed motivation questionnaire before the project work started and after it had finished. The results show significant decreases in school being an extrinsic controlled activity and show signs to lean towards school being a spontaneous activity