Climate change education is inherently challenging and demands innovative pedagogical strategies. Student interest and effort are essential for sustained engagement, especially when tackling complex topics like climate change.

This study investigates how different instructional activities and collaborative tasks influence upper secondary students’ situational interest and effort in a climate change education learning module. It also examines the alignment between student-reported and teacher-reported instructional activities.

Data were collected from 206 upper secondary students in Southern Finland, divided into nine groups and taught by four teachers.

A five-lesson physics learning module on energy production and climate change mitigation was co-designed with teachers and implemented in classrooms. Students reported their current activity, situational interest, and effort using the Experience Sampling Method (ESM). Teachers recorded notes on instructional activities for the same periods.

Different collaborative tasks of the learning module did not predict situational interest but did predict effort. Brainstorming and group work together positively predicted situational interest, while group work and working with data positively predicted effort. Instructional conversation, however, negatively predicted effort. Student and teacher reports of instructional activities showed a high level of alignment.

The findings highlight how specific instructional activities contribute differently to student situational interest and effort, offering practical insights for lesson planning in physics and climate change education. Either student or teacher activity reports may be sufficient for capturing classroom dynamics.