The question of how students learn best has fueled a controversial debate in the fields of educational psychology and instructional design. There is limited consensus on what type of instructional technique best supports conceptual learning. Teaching techniques cover a broad spectrum of orientation ranging from direct instruction, which often includes the use of lectures and practical examples, to pure discovery learning which includes little or no guidance from the teacher in his or her interpretation. extreme. Research on cognitive load theory and motivational strategies has both touted the benefits of and criticized elements of both of these instructional techniques (Hiebert, Carpenter, Fennema, Fuson, Human, & Murray, 1996; Kirschner, Sweller, & Clark, 2006; Kuhn, 2007; Sweller, 1988), creating a confusing path that researchers and educators must manage on their own. Following Pasteur's scientific and practical contributions (quoted?), both field researchers and classroom educators would benefit from well-motivated and empirically supported arguments for how instructional techniques can be used to maximize learning through motivation . Combining both a psychological and educational understanding of how instruction influences learning would result in a less fragmented and more comprehensive focus for future research and current classroom application. Research comparing instructional methods often pits one technique against another in hopes of determining a clear winner, however, such arguments do little to advance the field toward a deeper understanding of how such techniques work separately to achieve similar goals. Often, contrasting teaching perspectives have much to offer and the goal is to utilize the strengths of both... half of the article... Psychology, 95(4), 667-686.Pintrich, P.R., & Schunk, D. (2002). Motivation in education: theory, research and applications. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.Posner, G., Strike, K., Hewson, P., & Gertzog, W. (1982). Settling a scientific conception: Toward a theory of conceptual change. Science Educational, 66, 211-227. Schmidt, H. G., Loyens, S. M. M., van Gog, T., & Pass, F. (2007). Is problem-based learning compatible with human cognitive architecture: Comment on Kirschner, Sweller, and Clark (2006). Educational Psychologist, 42(2), 91-97. Sweller, J. (1988). Cognitive load during problem solving: Effects on learning. CognitiveScience, 12, 257-285. Sternberg, R. J., Torff, B., & Grigerenko, E. L. (1998). Teaching triarchically improves academic performance. Journal of Educational Psychology, 90, 374-384.