Hooks, Lines, & Sinkers

Research Article| November 01 2015 Hooks, Lines, & Sinkers Douglas Allchin Douglas Allchin Departmental Editor Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar The American Biology Teacher (2015) 77 (9): 718–720. https://doi.org/10.1525/abt.2015.77.9.14 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Douglas Allchin; Hooks, Lines, & Sinkers. The American Biology Teacher 1 November 2015; 77 (9): 718–720. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/abt.2015.77.9.14 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentThe American Biology Teacher Search Educational psychologists characterize them as motivational strategies. Classroom teachers just call them "hooks." Either way, the concept expresses the importance of engaging students in their own learning. The practical challenge can be monumental. But all too frequently, teachers seem to construe hooks as ways to simply grab attention and elicit a response. This commonly accepted term (this month's Sacred Bovine) is inappropriate for describing how teachers motivate true learning. The implicit metaphor of the hook fosters a view of students as gullible victims to be "caught and taught," lured in and instructed, "hook, line, and sinker." Here, I profile an alternative view that might promote more respectful and, ultimately, more meaningful learning experiences. The purpose of hooks is plain enough. Students are often disaffected. They feel alienated by institutional demands, adults, the whole oppressive school system. They arrive in class on any given day still gabbing with peers, checking their... You do not currently have access to this content.