Abstract
Hidi and Renninger’s four-phase interest development model was identified as the most complete and widely used theoretical model illustrating the essence of academic interest. Using the model along with current research literature as a basis, this study aimed to develop and initially validate a generic multidimensional instrument to measure academic interest across different school subjects in the Chinese education context; this instrument was called the Academic Interest Scale for Adolescents (AISA). Three large samples of Chinese junior high school students were recruited by cluster sampling in the study. (1) Sample 1 (N = 552; 45.5% girls; 12.31 [SD = 0.98] years, range = 10–15 years) completed the draft of AISA, Intrinsic Motivation Scale and Scale for Adolescents’ Flow State in Learning in math and English. (2) Sample 2 (a subgroup of Sample 1, 411 students) completed the AISA in math and English again 2 months later after the first survey. (3) Sample 3 (N = 1,780; 50.1% girls; 13.69 [SD = 0.97] years, range = 12–16 years) completed the AISA in math, English, and Chinese. Identically worded items were used in AISA, except for the name of the subject. An exploratory factor analysis for math in sample 1 using principle axis factoring and promax rotation resulted in a 29-item AISA containing four dimensions: emotion, value, knowledge, and engagement, and the latent variables together explained 59.40% of the total variance. Confirmatory factor analysis for math, English, and Chinese in sample 3 suggested the four-factor model fits well in different samples and subjects. Scale scores showed adequate internal consistency (the Cronbach’s α for AISA and each subscale ranged from 0.86 to 0.93) and acceptable test-criterion relationships (correlations between the AISA score and intrinsic motivation and flow state in learning > 0.51, ps < 0.001). Furthermore, the structural measure invariance across subjects, time (2-month interval), genders and grades were upheld. The AISA promises to be a useful tool for the evaluation of academic interest among Chinese adolescents and can be administered in different educational settings, i.e., different subjects, time, genders, and grades.
Highlights
Since Herbart (1776–1841) began to consider fostering interest as one of the primary goals of education, researchers have investigated the contribution of student interest to academic achievement
Because math is a main subject for Chinese students and the Academic Interest Scale for Adolescents (AISA) for math was implemented in all three surveys, we first conducted an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) using principle axis factoring and promax rotation on the 81 items for math in sample 1 to determine the factorial structure of the AISA scale
The current study developed and validated the Academic Interest Scale for adolescents (AISA), a new instrument for academic interest with more than 2,300 adolescents in the Chinese education context
Summary
Since Herbart (1776–1841) began to consider fostering interest as one of the primary goals of education, researchers have investigated the contribution of student interest to academic achievement. Studies have indicated that interest in most school subjects shows a downward trend over time (Hidi and Harackiewicz, 2000; Krapp, 2002; Dotterer et al, 2009; Frenzel et al, 2010). This trend occurs in primary school and seems to be more obvious in middle school (Prenzel, 1998). In China, the lack of academic interest is common among primary and middle school students. A Study found that 17.38% junior high school students in rural areas of China reported to have suffered from learning weariness (Zhao, 2015). As for learning weariness of Chinese students, one of the main reasons is the heavy academic burden (Guo and Zhang, 2012)
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