Anna-Lena Dicke

Beyond quantitative decline : Conceptual shifts in adolescents' development of interest in mathematics

Research has shown that the average values for academic interest decrease during adolescence. Looking beyond such quantitative decline, we explored qualitative change of interest in the domain of mathematics across adolescence. Study 1 was based on a longitudinal data set (annual assessments from Grade 5 to Grade 9; N = 3,193). Latent variable modeling showed that the measurement coefficients of the latent variable of interest (intercepts, structural weights, and error variances) significantly differed across time points, indicating structural changes of the construct. Study 2 was based on interviews with adolescents (Grades 5 and 9, N = 70). Cognitive validation was used to explore differences in subjective concepts of interest across age groups. As expected, there were significant age-related differences, indicating a shift from an affect-laden concept in 5th grade to a more cognitively oriented concept in 9th grade. The findings suggest that developmental research should integrate quantitative and qualitative perspectives of construct change over time and pay more attention to issues of measurement invariance and qualitative changes of constructs over time.

Short Intervention, Sustained Effects: Promoting Students' Math Competence Beliefs, Effort, and Achievement.

The present study investigated the effectiveness of two short relevance interventions (writing a text or evaluating quotations about the utility of mathematics) using a sample of 1,916 students in 82 math classrooms in a cluster randomized controlled experiment. Short-term and sustained effects (6 weeks and 5 months after the intervention) of the two intervention conditions on students’ competence beliefs (self-concept, homework self-efficacy), teacher-rated individual effort, and standardized test scores in mathematics were assessed. Hierarchical linear regression analyses showed that students’ homework self-efficacy was higher in both intervention groups 6 weeks and 5 months after the intervention compared to the control condition. Students’ self-concept, teacher-rated effort, and achievement in mathematics were promoted through the quotations condition, partly in the long term.

Schooling: Impact on Cognitive and Motivational Development

This article is a revision of the previous edition article by F.E. Weinert, volume 20, pp. 13589–13594,