K. Ann Renninger

The Four-Phase Model of Interest Development.

Building on and extending existing research, this article proposes a 4-phase model of interest development. The model describes 4 phases in the development and deepening of learner interest: triggered situational interest, maintained situational interest, emerging (less-developed) individual interest, and well-developed individual interest. Affective as well as cognitive factors are considered. Educational implications of the proposed model are identified.

Individual Interest And Its Implications For Understanding Intrinsic Motivation

Publisher Summary Study of intrinsic motivation refers to elicited attention for content in the sense of enjoyment, curiosity, and so forth, but no assumption can be made about the level of content knowledge. Individual interest, on the other hand, refers to an ongoing and deepening relation of a person to particular subject content that does, in fact, have qualities of full engagement and task orientation. Individual interest and intrinsic motivation do appear to describe similar outcomes. These include the enjoyment of focused and continued engagement in a task for the sake of the task itself, the pursuit of challenge, and the desire for mastery. For individual interest, these outcomes are linked to particular person–subject content relations. For intrinsic motivation, these outcomes apply more generally to human behavior, in the moment (situational interest) and over time (individual interest). As such, individual interest might be considered to provide a developmental context for thinking about intrinsic motivation. It focuses on the relations between each person and particular subject content over time and the impact of these on behavior. Individual interest provides a particular kind of wide-angle lens for thinking about intrinsic motivation because it addresses problem solving, information processing, and control with respect to particular engagement over time. Furthermore, both internal and external factors contribute to its development. Well-developed individual interest cannot develop without the continued challenges that stem from modeling, opportunities to apprentice, and interaction with others.

Revisiting the Conceptualization, Measurement, and Generation of Interest

This article provides an overview of recent interest research, focusing on the conceptualization, measurement, and generation of interest. It includes work that reflects differing theoretical backgrounds, research traditions, domains, and participants. Research on interest needs to be theoretically grounded if it is to be generally applicable and inform practice. Investigators must consider their own research questions, including learners’ age and characteristics of the learning context, in relation to the range of conceptualizations in the field. Whereas researchers’ questions should drive research on interest, their conceptualization of interest should inform their choice of measures. In addition, research addressing the ways in which interest might be generated and/or supported to develop should be aligned with both the conceptualization and measurement(s) of interest.

Interest and Identity Development in Instruction: An Inductive Model.

An inductive model is proposed that suggests that support for the development and deepening of interest can be aided by knowledge of identity development. The model suggests that instructional practice would be usefully informed were educators (e.g., teachers, parents, museum curators, counselors) to have information about both the phase of a learners interest and age-related expectations about their identity development, when working to promote learning of particular disciplinary content. Research describing phases in the development of interest and the age-related challenges and expectations specific to self-representation is reviewed, followed by evidence from the literature that provides preliminary support for the model. Research directions needed to challenge and refine the model follow.

The Centrality Of Culture And Community To Participant Learning At And With The Math Forum

In this chapter, the terms culture and community are problematized, and their centrality to participant learning at and with The Math Forum (mathforum.org) is discussed.2 Culture, as it is used here, refers to the rituals and norms that come to be associated with a site and its functioning. Community describes recognition of connections to and identification with other participants. The Math Forum is an interactive and inquiry-informed digital library, or virtual resource center, for mathematics education. Previous chapters have addressed the ways in which The Math Forum has leveraged the concept of community in order to become a dynamic and resource-rich educational site (Renninger & Shumar, 2002; Shumar & Renninger, 2002). In the present chapter, this analysis is taken a step further. The culture of The Math Forum is described as providing its participants with a unique set of opportunities for learning and for making the relationship between the individual and the community one in which individual and community

Studying Triggers for Interest and Engagement Using Observational Methods

In this article, we discuss the contribution of observational methods to understanding the processes involved in triggering interest and establishing engagement. We begin by reviewing the literatures on interest and engagement, noting their similarities, differences, and the utility to each of better understanding the triggering process. We then provide background information about observational methods and a case illustration of their use in a post hoc analysis of observation records collected during an out-of-school biology workshop. In conclusion, we consider the advantages and limitations of observational methods. We suggest that they can offer unique insight into the triggering process. In the post hoc analysis, this includes information about multiple, co-occurring triggers for interest and variation in responses to triggers based on learner characteristics. It is acknowledged that observational methods are not sufficient, but they are necessary; they provide essential detail, especially for understanding the triggering process.

IDEA: Identifying Design Principles in Educational Applets.

The Internet is increasingly being used as a medium for educational software in the form of miniature applications (e.g., applets) to explore concepts in a domain. One such effort in mathematics education, the Educational Software Components of Tomorrow (ESCOT) project, created 42 miniature applications each consisting of a context, a set of questions, and one or more interactive applets to help students explore a mathematical concept. They were designed by experts in interface design, educational technology, and classroom teaching. However, some applications were more successful for fostering student problem-solving than others. This article describes the method used to mine a subset (25) of these applets for design principles that describe successful learner-centered design by drawing on such data as videos of students using the software and summaries of written student work. Twenty-one design principles were identified, falling into the categories of motivation, presentation, and support for problem solving. The main purpose of this article is to operationalize a method for post hoc extraction of design principles from an existing library of educational software, although readers may also find the design principles themselves to be useful.

The development of cognitive organization in young children: An exploratory study

*Order of authorship is arbitrary. Four questions guided the formulation of this study of the development of cognitive organization in young children. First, what organizational process‐patterns do young children display when faced with an organizational task employing non‐representational materials? Second, what developmental changes can be observed in the processes children employ as they engage in tasks? Third, what kinds of products are generated as a consequence of these process? Fourth, what are implications of the study of cognitive organization for developing educational programs for young children? Eight preschool children were tested at 3 and again at 4‐years‐of age with the Designs Tasks, a non‐representational set of items varying in the degree to which they could be fit together. Childrens performance on the tasks were video‐taped and coded using the subject‐process‐product paradigm. Findings suggest that irrespective of age and task type, children engage in tasks with high levels of affect ...

Engaging Students in Reading: Implications for Research and Practice

This issue of Educational Psychology Review represents a qualitatively different type of compilation. It consists of papers by leading researchers whose work over the years has focused on questions related to student interest and engagement. In this issue, each of these authors overviews their own findings and the theories and research on which they draw, to discuss the implications of their research for practice and future research. Student interest and engagement have consistently been found to be associated with or to influence various aspects of literacy, including: (a) situational interest, or the likelihood that students’ interest for text can be triggered (Hidi and Baird, 1986; Hidi and Berndorff, 1998), (b) student attention to important content (Garner et al., 1989; Wade, 1992; Wade et al., 1999), (c) student memory for concrete text (Sadoski et al., 2000), (d) student perceptions of text coherence (Schraw, 1998), (e) student understanding (Beck and McKeown, 1988), (f) students’ background knowledge (Alexander, 1997; Alexander and Jetton, 1996), (g) students’ depth of processing (Schiefele and Krapp, 1996), (h) individual differences in comprehension (Renninger et al., in press), and (i) the design of learning environments that engage readers (Gutherie and Cox, 1998). However, none of these findings answer all of the questions educators may have about student interest and engagement. For example, what should teachers do if students pay attention to information in a text that they consider interesting when it differs from that which is important to an assigned task? How can teachers engage students in learning the core curricula, when they differ so greatly in their individual interests? How can teachers help

Interest, Psychology of

In psychology, interest refers to both the psychological state of engagement and a relatively enduring predisposition to reengage particular content (e.g., mathematics) over time. Interest positively influences attention, goal setting, and learning strategies for people of all ages both in and out of school. This article describes characteristics of interest as well as issues of measurement, specifically the need for indicators that account for differences of context, age, and experience. A retrospective case study provides a basis for distinguishing among interest and: motivation, engagement, goals, identity, self-efficacy, self-regulation, attitude, disposition, grit, and mind-set.