Situational Interest Research Articles

Predictive factors of students' physical activity in different learning interest phases: A cluster analysis of physical education.

This study investigates the relationships among students' perception of the sports environment, expectancy value, achievement goals, physical activity, sports knowledge and skills in physical education (PE) in different learning interest phases. This cross-sectional study used a sample of 4367 Chinese primary and secondary school students enrolled in PE classes, Mage = 12.1, SD = 2.9, 48.9% males. Validated questionnaires assessed their physical activity, expectancy value, achievement goals, and sports knowledge and skills. Cluster analysis examined four student profiles in relation to their learning interest in PE. For each profile identified, correlation and multiple regression analyses examined the relationships among students' expectancy value, achievement goals, sports knowledge and skills, and physical activity. Four different student interest profiles were identified, revealing a continuum from the "triggered situational interest" (TSI) to the "well-developed individual interest" (WII) phases. The results confirmed the key role played by students' perception of the family sports environment and sports knowledge and skills in their PE interest in all four phases, while sex, perception of the school and social sports environment, achievement goals and expectancy value had different predictive effects on students' physical activity in different interest phases. The findings from this study provide a new lens by which to divide the phases of learning interest in PE. Students' characteristics differed among the four different learning interest phases, and the impacts on physical activity varied. Future research is needed to consider the interest phase of adolescents to make more targeted guidance measures when improving physical activities.

Teaching Strategies as Predictors of Students' Mathematics Interest among O-Level Students in Wakiso District, Uganda

Interest in Mathematics is a factor that most educators are interested in because of its impact on mathematics learning, and teachers are considered key players in fostering students' interest in mathematics. The study investigated the predictive effect of perceived teaching strategies on students' interest in mathematics among O-level students in the Wakiso district. A mixed methods approach was used; 332 Senior Three students in total were used for the quantitative data, six students from each school took part in focus group discussions (FGDs), and one O-level mathematics teacher from each school was a key informant for the qualitative data. The findings revealed that teacher-centred strategies did not significantly predict overall interest, individual interest, and situational interest in mathematics, learner-centred strategies positively predicted overall interest and individual interest in mathematics and did not significantly predict situational interest, student-teacher interactive strategies positively predicted overall interest, individual interest and did not significantly predict situational interest. The qualitative results confirmed the quantitative results complemented the qualitative results. The study concluded that teachers need to develop more innovative strategies that can tap into students' interests in mathematics lessons and overall interest in mathematics

Mathematics Interest among O-Level Secondary School Students in Wakiso District, Uganda

The study investigated interest levels and differences in mathematics among O-level students in Wakiso District. Since interest is a psychological state, people can be unaware of it, making it simple for educators to presume that it is or is not present. In the current study, mathematics interest levels among Senior Three pupils in the Wakiso district were evaluated, and narratives from the students and teachers revealed the causes of the low interest. Three hundred and thirty-two students were used for the quantitative data; six students from each school took part in focus group discussions, and one O-level mathematics teacher from each school took part as key informants for the qualitative data. Quantitative results revealed that; students had high interest in mathematics (84%), had more situational (M = 37.00, SD = 8.10) than individual interest (M = 30.67, SD = 5.82). There were significant gender differences in overall interest Males (M = 73.61, SD = 13.22) than females (M = 69.93, SD = 13.60) individual interest Males (M = 31.32, SD = 5.76) than females (M = 30.03, SD = 5.83), and situational interest males (M = 38.19, SD = 7.81) than females (M = 35.83, SD = 8.21), p < .05. in mathematics, but not in other demographics. Qualitative findings, however, revealed low interest in mathematics, pointing out various reasons for their low interest (mathematics being tough, complex, boring, full of calculations, unrelated to ral life, intended for the intelligent, previous poor performance). According to the study's findings, the challenge of low interest should not be left to students only, but all stakeholders in education should take part in developing and maintaining students' interest in mathematics. There are still gender differences in mathematics interests, which impacts females' interest in the subject

PREDICTING SITUATIONAL INTEREST BY INDIVIDUAL INTEREST AND INSTRUCTIONAL ACTIVITIES IN PHYSICS LESSONS: AN EXPERIENCE SAMPLING APPROACH

Enhancing interest in physics learning has been an important component of education policy and policy implementation for decades. However, in many countries, student interest in physics has not increased. The aim of this study was to predict situational interest using individual interest and the instructional activities students engaged in. Also, the suitability of the data collection approach to measure situational interest was assessed. A teaching module about real-world oscillations was implemented to 179 Estonian lower secondary school students. Data about situational interest were collected using the experience sampling method (ESM), which was measured three times during the module. The results indicated that gender, grade, and instructional activities did not predict situational interest. Individual interest was a significant predictor and correlation with situational interest increased with time, contrary to previous findings. The ESM approach used in this study was considered to be effective in disturbing students’ study flow minimally but may have affected the amount of missing data. This study contributes to the research done on student interest in a classroom setting by indicating a more complex relationship between situational and individual interest than previously suggested. Keywords: situational interest, instructional activities, lower secondary school physics, physics education, experience sampling method

Exploring the impact of authentic learning activities on school students’ epistemic beliefs in the social sciences and humanities

The present two studies investigated whether students’ development of epistemic beliefs about the educational sciences (study A; N = 152) and linguistics (study B; N = 150) can be affected by authentic learning activities in an out-of-school lab (OSL). OSLs aim to engage students in authentic activities that attempt to simulate the ways how scientists gather new knowledge, making an impact on students’ epistemic beliefs likely. To test this assumption, the two (quasi-)experimental studies each compared a highly authentic with a less authentic activity and assessed students’ epistemic beliefs before and after the students’ visit to the OSL. We also analyzed how students’ epistemic beliefs relate to their perceived authenticity of the learning activity, their situational interest, and their knowledge acquisition. The findings suggest that authentic activities in OSLs have no effect on students’ epistemic beliefs, as students in both conditions either developed more sophisticated beliefs (study A) or changed their beliefs in the less authentic condition only (study B). Correlational analyses further show that students’ epistemic beliefs about the texture of knowledge are negatively associated with both their perceived authenticity of the learning activity (studies A and B) and their situational interest (study A only). In contrast, students’ epistemic beliefs about the variability of knowledge are positively correlated with their perceived authenticity and their knowledge acquisition (both in study A only). The findings are discussed in light of previous research on both students’ epistemic beliefs and authentic learning in OSLs.

Development and evaluation of an escape room based on general pharmacokinetics: Students' perceptions of its motivational climate.

We designed an escape room based on the basic principles of pharmacokinetics for undergraduate bachelor students and explored its effect on students' perceived motivational climate and usefulness as a formative assessment via a mixed-method design. The effect on students' perceptions of the motivational climate was measured using pre- and post-test measurements of the MUSIC® inventory. Students' experiences with the escape room and suggestions for improvement were collected by open-ended survey questions. Forty-one students initially joined the study while 28 students completed both the pre- and post-test MUSIC® inventory. Data from the MUSIC® inventory revealed the effect of playing the escape room on students' situational interest was positive with medium to large effect (Cohen's dav = 0.63). Data from the open-ended questions confirmed the outcome of the MUSIC® inventory. While there was a positive effect on situational interest, students found the escape room not very useful as a tool for formative assessment. Further research should include a control group and focus on the effect of the escape room on academic success and work toward increasing the capacity of the escape room for large-scale courses.

An instrument for measuring scientific empathy in students’ disciplinary engagement: the scientific empathy index

A crucial component of disciplinary engagement for learners in science is that of scientific empathy—in other words, the metaphysical connection between the student and the object of study, as scientists embody when deeply engaged in their work. Scientific empathy is the factor that stimulates and maintains students’ desire to inquire and that elicits creative problem-solving in their “doing” science as a distinctive disposition from general empathy. As such, in this study, the scientific empathy index (SEI) was developed to measure these traits of scientific empathy. For this purpose, two-rounds of factor analyses were conducted in the preliminary and the main tests of SEI. To prove the validity of the main test, correlation and mediated analysis were additionally conducted between other problem-solving scales and Final SEI. The first-factor analysis was conducted on 1,048 elementary, middle, and high school students as a preliminary test for extracting SEI questions. Based on the preliminary test results, 956 K-12 students were newly recruited, and the validity of the main test was confirmed through a second-factor analysis. Through these analyses, it was identified that the scale comprised five factors: sensitivity, situational interest, scientific imagination, empathetic concern, and empathetic understanding of others. Each scientific empathy factor revealed both cognitive and affective process dimensions including individual and social interrelations of students’ empathy in doing science. SEI was more highly correlated than the general empathy scale in the process of creative problem-solving and science process skills. In addition, it was found to exhibit a mediating effect between creative problem-solving and scientific inquiry. These findings validate the newly developed SEI and how it contributes to providing science learners with a useful tool for quick and easy measurement of scientific empathy and its components for the empathized involvement process between the student and their research subject.

Exploring the impact of the design thinking model on fifth graders’ creative self-efficacy, situational interest, and individual interest in STEM education

Design thinking has gained considerable attention as an approach to improve the effectiveness of STEM education. This study endeavours to investigate the influence of the design thinking model on the creative self-efficacy, situational interest, and individual interest of fifth-grade students in STEM education. A non-equivalent pretest–posttest quasi-experimental design was utilized. The experiment group (n = 32) received the design thinking model, whereas the control group (n = 31) followed regularly-used learning. Creative self-efficacy, situational interest, and individual interest were measured before and after the intervention. Paired samples t-tests were conducted to calculate differences in changes of creative self-efficacy, situational interest, and individual interest between the two groups. Additionally, independent sample t-tests were performed to examine differences in creative self-efficacy, situational interest, and individual interest between the two groups. The results showed that the intervention of the design thinking model had a positive impact on fifth graders’ creative self-efficacy and situational interest in STEM education. However, no statistically significant impact was found with regards to individual interest. This study suggests that the design thinking model presents an effective approach for enhancing students’ creative self-efficacy and situational interest, and offering valuable insights for educators looking to integrate design thinking model in STEM education.

The impact of mixed reality serious games on mortise and tenon learning in college students

As an intangible cultural heritage, traditional handicrafts are significant in artistic education. Due to limited approaches to communicating traditional handicrafts and appreciating content, it cannot be easy to carry out effective skill inheritance in an art education situation in a modern teaching environment. This study uses mixed reality technology to develop a serious game for learning traditional handicrafts. The objective is to improve students' attitudes by promoting a digital teaching environment. This research uses traditional Chinese mortise and tenon joints for the case study. The effects of serious games using MR technology and traditional teaching methods were compared through quasi-experiments on students' academic performance, learning motivation and situational interest. The results show that serious games can have advantages in acquiring and retaining knowledge, stimulating students' learning motivation and situational interest. This study aims to support cultural heritage education methods.

Situational Interest within the Reciprocal Teaching Style: Roles of Dyad Composition and Students’ Personal Variables

ABSTRACT Purpose:Based on person-context interaction, situational interest (SI) has been used to interpret students’ motivation in task engagement. Through two consecutive studies, the purpose of this research was to investigate the roles of forms of dyads (self-selected vs. ability), feelings of relatedness and perceived competence in eliciting students’ SI within the reciprocal teaching style.Method: The first study examined the role of dyad composition to determine how to group students to elicit high SI (self selected vs. ability dyads) and compared self-selected and ability dyads using repeated-measures of students’ SI, perceived competence and feelings of relatedness, with 99 students in a PE unit. Based on the results of this first study, demonstrating the benefits of the self-selected dyads, the second study aimed to investigate the role of feelings of relatedness and perceived competence in eliciting students’ SI within football (99 students) and gymnastics units (109 students) using MANOVAs and a cluster approach. Results: The first study’s results showed higher scores for SI, perceived competence and feelings of relatedness in favor of self-selected dyads compared to ability dyads. In the second study within self-selected dyads, the results showed a small effect of perceived competence and a stronger effect of feelings of relatedness on SI. Conclusion:To elicit students’ SI within the reciprocal teaching style, teachers should favor self-selected dyads. This paper highlights the importance of designing contexts where students can develop good peer relationships to increase SI. The implementation of self-selected grouping in PE is interesting since it is less time-consuming than other grouping strategies.

Improvement of Executive Function Through Cognitively Challenging Physical Activity with Nonlinear Pedagogy In Elementary Schools

This study investigated the effects of cognitively challenging with nonlinear pedagogical games on the executive functions and situational interests of students in physical education. Participants were 145 fifth and sixth-grade students (74 boys, 71 girls) from four elementary schools. This acute investigation, which included a physical education session, utilized a quasi-experimental design with four groups, repeated measures, and cross-over. After the post-test, one fifth- and one sixth-grade class from each school was randomly assigned to Group 1 with cognitively challenging nonlinear pedagogy games, Group 2 with a session for teaching soccer skills, Group 3 with a session for teaching track and field skills, and Group 4 control group, all the group with cognitively challenging physical with activity nonlinear pedagogy games. Included were pre- and post-test measures of executive functioning and a post-test assessment of situational interest. Students in Group 1 who engaged in cognitively challenging physical activity with nonlinear pedagogy games increased their executive function scores (t(39) =−19.75, p < 0.001, d=1.82) more than students who participated in sessions with group 2 soccer (t(33) =−3.14, p=0.005), group 3 track and field skills (t(38) =−0.98, p=0.325) and those group 4 the control group (t(32) =−0.68, p=0.523). The positive effects on the executive functions of students were duplicated when the cognitively demanding physical activity with nonlinear pedagogy games session was administered to the control group on the waiting list Students who participated in the soccer skills session showed some improvements in their executive functions. Students who participated in cognitively challenging physical nonlinear games scored higher on novelty than those who participated in soccer or track and field. These findings confirm the efficacy of cognitively challenging physical activity using nonlinear games in stimulating the executive functions of students in physical education. Key words: physical activity, nonlinear pedagogy, situational interest, cognitive engagement, design fluency

Balancing Individual and Situational Interests Among Learners: A Case Study

Balancing Individual and Situational Interests Among Learners: A Case Study

In‐game performance: The role of students' socio‐economic status, self‐efficacy and situational interest in an augmented reality game

Digital games are widely used in education to motivate students for science. Additionally, augmented reality (AR) is increasingly used in education. However, recent research indicates that these technologies might not be equally beneficial for students with different background characteristics. Moreover, students with different backgrounds may differ in their self‐efficacy and interest when playing games and this could lead to differences in performance. Given the increased use of games and immersive technologies in education, it is important to gain a better understanding of the effectiveness of games for different student groups. This study focused on the role of students' socio‐economic status (SES) and examined whether SES was associated with in‐game performance and whether interest and self‐efficacy mediated potential associations between SES and in‐game performance. Since log data are increasingly used to predict learning outcomes and can provide valuable insights into individual behaviour, in‐game performance was assessed with the use of log data. In total, 276 early secondary school students participated in this study. The results indicate that SES has no direct or indirect effect through self‐efficacy and interest on in‐game performance. However, a lower self‐efficacy increased the likelihood to drop out of the game. These findings suggest that students from different socio‐economic backgrounds are equally interested and self‐efficacious while playing the game and that their performance is not affected by their background. The affordances of AR as an immersive learning environment might be motivating enough to help mitigate possible SES differences in students. Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topic Digital games are an effective tool to increase motivation and learning outcomes of students. Students' self‐efficacy and situational interest influence learning outcomes and in‐game performance. It is unclear whether digital games are equally effective for students with different socio‐economic status. What this paper adds Socio‐economic status (SES) of students does not affect in‐game performance. Students with different SES are equally interested and self‐efficacious. Lower self‐efficacy and lower school track influence the likelihood of dropout. Implications for practice and/or policy Socio‐economic status does not fortify the possible performance differences between students and games can be utilized as a learning tool that motivates all students equally. There are students who do not optimally benefit when games are implemented in education and who may need additional support.

The effect of virtual reality on knowledge acquisition and situational interest regarding library orientation in the time of Covid-19

This study examines the impact of using virtual reality for library orientation for first-year university students during the COVID-19 pandemic. The application was developed based on the concept of a digital twin of a physical library. To assess our application, we conducted a comparative experiment with a control group (video guide) and an experimental group (VR guide) of students using situational interest questionnaires, namely pre- and post-tests of knowledge in the form of a library orientation questionnaire and a semi-structured interview. The results showed that virtual reality can increase situational interest in the sub-dimensions of “instant enjoyment”, “novelty”, and “challenge”, but not knowledge acquisition in library orientation. In addition, the qualitative data analysis concludes that virtual reality is unsuitable for the main library orientation program for a large group but is suitable as a supporting tool for library orientation.

The importance of individual interest and school engagement to the advancement of physical culture promotion in schools of higher education

Purpose. Promoting physical culture on campus is highly important as it provides an avenue for the students to develop and strengthen their bodies and circumvent fatal diseases and illnesses brought by the present living conditions. However, this can only be translated by taking into priority the individual interest of students toward Physical education and their school engagement. Published scholarly works have accentuated that situational interest that can trigger individual interest, which can result in students’ higher engagement reports. However, little is known about individual interest’s impact alone on students’ engagement. In this regard, this novel study is highly focused on assessing the relationship and direct influence of individual interest, along with its three factors, on school engagement.
 Materials and Methods. In order to gather all of the data that was required for this study, an online survey that was constructed with Google forms was utilized. This study has made use of two instruments. First, the newly developed and validated Individual Interest in Physical Education Questionnaire, which is a 14-item multidimensional questionnaire that measures students' individual interest based on three factors, namely: positive affect and willingness to reengage (PAWR), stored utility value (SUV), and stored attainment value and knowledge-seeking intentions (SAVKSI) was utilized. Lastly, the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale for Students (UWES-9S), a 9-item questionnaire that measures the overall school engagement of students. The data was analyzed using the Spearman Rho's (rs) test and Multiple Regression to look for an association and causal effect of students' individual interest in school engagement. This study incorporates the directional significance of each individual interest's three dimensions (PAWR, SUV, and SAVKSI) in a multiple regression analysis of its impact on students' engagement in school.
 Conclusions. After obtaining data from 11,378 undergraduate students [(NMale = 6683(58.7%), NFemale = 4695(41.3%)] from various higher education institutions in the Philippines, it was discovered that individual interest along with its three factors has a significant association and direct impact on school engagement. Based on the aforementioned findings, proposals for physical education teachers and future research undertakings are a result of this investigation to effectively translate physical culture to campuses improving students’ overall wellbeing.

Content, interest and the role of engagement: experienced science teachers discuss

How do science teachers perceive student engagement and its importance for teaching and what strategies do they use to create it? When 21 experienced science teachers in 4 focus groups discussed these questions, they brought up behavioural aspects, but also less visible emotional and cognitive aspects, as well as reciprocal aspects of teacher and student engagement. One teacher described engagement as ‘the oil in the machinery’ during lessons. Which role does the curricular content play? Well aware that some topics are seen as more directly interesting by students, teachers connect to these, but also use hooks, including lively demonstrations, role play and connections to the outside world. In this way, they aim to generate situational interest and engagement also in topics that are often viewed as less interesting, including atoms and molecules. These experienced teachers describe how they adapt their teaching to the group also in real time, based on the degree of engagement exhibited by the students.

A bibliometric analysis of situational interest research

AbstractInterest is a variable that assists students in acquiring knowledge and instructors in creating an encouraging classroom environment. Situational interest, on the other hand, is a type of interest that will assist students' interest to develop by organising environmental conditions. The research on situational interest has been ongoing for more than two decades, and the bibliometric information of this research has grown. The current research aims to examine trends and advances to assist researchers in understanding the perspective of situational interest research. The bibliometric analysis was conducted with Biblioshiny and VOSviewer. The current study analysed WoS data about the meta‐information of 573 published articles on situational interest. The results obtained from the WoS database reveal a growing interest in applying situational interest. Bradford's law results show that 195 articles published in 15 journals were in Zone 1. The result of Lotka's law explained that theoretical and observed research data fit. Education‐related keywords such as achievement, motivation, text, recall, comprehension, and other education‐related variables such as self‐efficacy and design, gender, college students, biology, and context have been placed under the basic theme that is most relevant and developing. It can be said that other results of the current study guide authors about situational interest research. Context and implicationsRationale for this studyThe studies on situational interest have increased over the last two decades, but there are few reviews of situational interest publications. This study has examined trends and advances in the studies to assist researchers in understanding the perspective of situational interest research with bibliometric analysis.Why the new findings matterThe findings have highlighted trends and advances in the scientific output of situational interest with bibliometric analysis.Implications for practitionersIn addition to revealing the trends and advances in situational interest research, the findings can help to focus more on some emerging research themes that can guide future situational interest researchers. According to findings, the recent research of situational interest focuses on cognitive load, motivation, achievement, and emerging technology such as augmented reality technology. The Four‐Phase Model of Interest Development is the most popular document among situational interest research to understand situational interest. The results show that researchers had an international collaboration from different countries and different institutions.

An experience-sampling study of between- and within-individual predictors of emotional engagement in blended learning

As emotional experience is a crucial factor influencing students' learning and performance, it is important to understand what influences their emotional engagement in blended learning. In this study, pretest, posttest, and experience sampling methods were used to capture longitudinal data from 61 preservice teachers from two classes at a university in central China. Hierarchical linear modeling techniques were employed to investigate how distal course-level academic motivation, proximal appraisals, and activity types affected emotional engagement. We found: (1) positive emotional engagement in classroom lectures was higher than that in online micro-lectures, while negative emotional engagement in classroom group discussions was higher than that in online group discussions; (2) proximal situational interest and perceived skill had a strong positive influence on positive emotional engagement and a strong negative influence on negative emotions; and (3) distal autonomous motivations positively predicted positive emotional engagement, while controlled motivations positively predicted negative emotional engagement.Educational Relevance and Implications Statement.In this study, the results of hierarchical linear modeling indicated that situational interest and perceived skill positively predicted positive emotional engagement and negatively predicted negative emotional engagement. The distal course-level autonomous motivation positively predicted positive emotional engagement during subsequent learning activities, while distal course-level controlled motivation positively predicted negative emotional engagement. The results also showed that course-level academic motivation and cognitive appraisals of the activity were more important than the mode and type of learning activities for emotional engagement. In practice, to improve students' emotional experiences in blended learning contexts, instructors should enhance students' autonomous motivation, perceived control and value of learning activities in blended learning contexts.

The relationship between secondary school students’ situational interest and their collaborative learning interactions

Situational interest can be a prominent driver for learning, but little is known about how it is connected to the type of interactions students engage in during collaborative learning. To address this gap, we collected data from 94 secondary school students who worked on collaborative tasks during a five-session science course. Students reported their situational interest before and after every collaborative task. The collaborative sessions were videotaped. Based on the differences in situational interest variation, the students were assigned to three situational interest clusters. The differences in the level and trend of interactions were then statistically examined between the clusters. The results showed that the students whose situational interest increased had a higher level of cognitive interaction (U = 6704.5, p = 0.04) and more rapid growth in cognitive (t (196) = − 2.42 and − 3.62, p < 0.01) and socio-emotional (t (196) = − 1.81 and − 3.48, p < 0.05) interaction than other students. Instead, those students whose situational interest decreased showed more rapid growth in off-task interaction (t (196) = 2.59, p = 0.01). To maintain an optimal level of situational interest, the findings also suggest paying attention to off-task interactions during collaboration, in addition to cognitive interaction.

The Learning Patterns of Self Regulated Learning in Increasing Achievement of Recipient Students KIP Scholarship Period 2020/2021 PAI Program Faculty of Tarbiyah IAIN Bone

This research discusses the problem of self-regulated learning for the student achievement of KIP scholarship recipients for the 2020/2021 period of the Islamic Education Study Program, Faculty of Tarbiyah IAIN Bone. The objectives of this research are to identify self-regulated learning, to identify the efforts to improve academic and non-academic achievement, and to identify barriers that affect academic and non-academic achievement. This research uses a research methodology, namely the type of research that uses qualitative research to describe an event. The research approaches are sociological, pedagogical, and psychological approach. The data collection methods include observation, interview, and documentation. The data collection and analysis techniques used are data collection as well as data display, data reduction, and data triangulation. The results of self-regulated learning of the students in improving academic and non-academic achievements show that the first uses three aspects, namely aspects of metacognition with repetition, elaboration, and organizational strategies. The second, the self-elaboration aspect, includes extrinsic self-talk, relative ability, and situational interest enhancement. The third is the barriers. There are two factors: internal factors, including physical factors (intelligence), physical factors (attitude and psychomotor), and external factors, including family/parents, lecturers, and other activities.