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Maintaining learning engagement throughout adolescence is critical for long‐term academic success. This research sought to understand the role of metacognition and motivation in predicting adolescents' engagement in math learning over time. In two longitudinal studies with 2,325 and 207 adolescents (ages 11–15), metacognitive skills, interest, and self‐control each uniquely predicted math engagement. Additionally, metacognitive skills worked with interest and self‐control interactively to shape engagement. In Study 1, metacognitive skills and interest were found to compensate for one another. This compensatory pattern further interacted with time in Study 2, indicating that the decline in engagement was forestalled among adolescents who had either high metacognitive skills or high interest. Both studies also uncovered an interaction between metacognitive skills and self‐control, though with slightly different interaction patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work we start from the hypothesis that there is a lack of connection between what students find interesting and the content set by the curriculum because the curriculum was set by taking into consideration professional and/or political interests. In this article the level of interest of students in year four of compulsory secondary education in the content of music as a subject are described, as interest is a factor that influences learning. This is a descriptive study based on survey methods and qualitative research, and it examines which types of content are most interesting for students and which ones inspire little or no interest in them. After analysing the results, we make some proposals that might help to increase student's interest in the content of music as a subject. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to examine how individual interest and knowledge acquisition are causally related. Three hypotheses were tested using a cross-lagged panel analysis ( N = 186) and two quasi-experimental studies ( N = 68 and N = 108) involving students from schools in Singapore. The first hypothesis is the broadly shared standard assumption on the relation between individual interest and knowledge: the more an individual is interested in a topic, the more (s)he is willing to engage in learning. An alternative hypothesis assumes that individual interest is not the cause but the consequence of the process of learning: individual interest as an affective by-product of learning. Finally, a third possibility is that interest and knowledge influence each other reciprocally. The results supported the affective-by-product hypothesis. Our findings seem at variance with commonly held conceptions that being interested guides knowledge attainment. The implications of these findings for interest research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Second- through fourth-grade students were read a storybook that described a typical boy who interacted with an obese boy for one of four reasons (sympathy, curiosity, teacher instructed, or no reason) to explore the manner in which a typical storybook character's reason for associating with an obese storybook character influences children's responses to both characters. Results revealed that the children responded more favorably to the obese storybook character after than before learning about the typical storybook character's association with him, especially when the typical storybook character's reason for association was presented as internally motivated (sympathy or curiosity). In contrast to “stigma by association” findings reported in prior research, the children also responded more favorably to the typical storybook character after than before his association with the obese storybook character. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper discusses a cross-cultural and collaborative project, in preschools in England and South Korea. The aim of the project is to investigate the pedagogy of outdoor play and learning in two different cultural contexts, from the perspectives of the practitioners. Although there has been a growing academic interest in the use of outdoor spaces for play by children, there is limited scientific evidence of how children may benefit from their outdoor experiences. In particular, pedagogy in relation to outdoor play has not been fully articulated or critiqued in research literature. The project reported in this paper represents a systematic and detailed programme designed to begin to address the current gap in research on outdoor pedagogy. The project adapts the polyvocal methods used by Tobin, Wu, and Davidson [(1989).Preschool in three cultures: Japan, China and United States. London: Yale University Press] and Tobin, Hsueh, and Karasawa [(2009).Preschool in three cultures revisited: China, Japan and the United States. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press] in order to elicit practitioners’ perspectives on pedagogy in outdoor environments by sharing and reflecting on a range of visual data, including video and photographic images recorded by practitioners and researchers. The paper will discuss and critique cross-cultural perceptions of outdoor pedagogy in early childhood in relation to interaction, management and safety. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study examines the pedagogic value of incorporating sophisticated interactivity features into lessons on hand-held devices. Engineering students (Experiment 1) and non-engineering college students (Experiment 2) spent 5 min studying an animation showing a six-step maintenance procedure for a mechanical device called a Power Take-Off presented on an iPad. In both experiments, students who received high interactivity (i.e., rotation through dragging movements and zoom through pinching movements) reported higher interest but did not show better learning as compared to the low interactivity group (i.e., pause and continue buttons on the touch screen) or no interactivity group. Across two experiments, the interactivity hypothesis was supported in terms of increased interest but not supported in terms of improved learning. Thus, there was not support for the idea that increasing situational interest through high levels of interactivity primes deeper learning processes that produce better learning outcomes. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses four waves of panel data to analyze inadvertent learning—that is, learning in the absence of interest or motivation—from watching public service television channels. Previous research suggests that motivation-based gaps in political knowledge are at least partly a function of the political information opportunities provided by the major television channels in a country, which influence the likelihood of being inadvertently exposed to news and current affairs programs. The present study puts the inadvertent learning hypothesis to a thorough empirical test by analyzing individual-level growth in knowledge over time, based on panel data collected during five months leading up to the Swedish 2010 national election. Using multilevel growth curve modeling and an extensive battery of surveillance knowledge questions, the results show not only (a) that public service channel viewing was related to learning, but also (b) that knowledge growth occurred among public service viewers independently of their political motivation and news attention, and (c) that such learning was even more pronounced among viewers lacking an interest in politics. The findings are discussed in light of ongoing media environmental transformations as well as cross-national comparative media systems research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theories of motivation propose that moderate difficulty can be beneficial for student engagement and learning. However, research on the effect of difficulty has been inconsistent. The primary goal of the present study was to investigate the possibility that interest-based text preference moderates the effect of difficulty on engagement and learning. To test this hypothesis, participants studied four instructional texts on research methods topics in a 2 × 2 interest-based text preference (preferred vs. non-preferred texts) × text difficulty (easy vs. difficult) within-subjects experiment. The manipulation of interest-based text preference asked participants to rank four text titles based on their perceived interest in reading the text corresponding to each title. Engagement was assessed via self-reported affect (valence and arousal), attention (mind wandering), and reading time during the learning session. Learning and knowledge transfer were measured with knowledge tests after reading all four texts. Consistent with our predictions, interest-based text preference and text difficulty interacted to predict reading time, mind wandering, and knowledge transfer. The nature of the relationship indicated that increased text difficulty can support engagement and transfer, but only when individuals are provided with an opportunity to express their text preferences prior to reading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The majority of current developmental models prioritise a pedagogical approach to knowledge acquisition in infancy, in which infants play a relatively passive role as recipients of information. In view of recent evidence, demonstrating that infants use pointing to express interest and solicit information from adults, we set out to test whether giving the child the leading role in deciding what information to receive leads to better learning. Sixteen-month-olds were introduced to pairs of novel objects and, once they had pointed to an object, were shown a function for either the object they had chosen, or the object they had ignored. Ten minutes later, infants replicated the functions of chosen objects significantly more than those of un-chosen objects, despite having been equally visually attentive during demonstrations on both types of objects. These results show that offering information in response to infants’ communicative gestures leads to superior learning (Experiment 1) and that this difference in performance is due to learning being facilitated when infants’ pointing was responded to, not hindered when their pointing was ignored (Experiment 2), highlighting the importance of infants’ own active engagement in acquiring information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the three studies presented here was to investigate how situational interest is related to knowledge acquisition. Situational interest is construed as a motivational response to a perceived knowledge deficit. It is triggered in situations where this knowledge deficit becomes manifest, such as in the confrontation with a problem. In Study 1 we manipulated prior knowledge of 32 secondary-school students about a particular problem (i.e., reasons for the conquest of Singapore by the Japanese during the Second World War). Only students who lacked the appropriate knowledge showed an increase in situational interest after the problem was presented. In Study 2 (N = 60), students who showed awareness that they lacked knowledge to understand a problem (i.e., causes of erosion of an island) showed increased situational interest in that problem. In Study 3 (N = 86), situational interest and knowledge acquisition were monitored over the course of a 3-h lesson in a natural classroom. We were able to demonstrate that situational interest decreased with increasing knowledge of the problem-at-hand. We argue that the findings support a knowledge-deprivation account of situational interest. Our findings are at variance with the broadly held conviction that situational interest and knowledge necessarily influence each other positively. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background:Interest is assumed to be relevant for students’ learning processes. Many studies have investigated students’ interest in science; most of them however have not offered differentiated insights into the structure and elements of this interest. Purpose:The aim of this study is to obtain a precise image of secondary school students’ interest for school and out-of-school learning opportunities, both formal and informal. The study is part of a larger project on measuring the students’ Individual Concept about the Natural Sciences (ICoN), including self-efficacy, beliefs and achievements next to interest variables. Sample:Next to regular school students, a specific cohort will be analyzed as well: participants of science competitions who are regarded as having high interest, and perhaps different interest profiles than regular students. In the study described here, participants of the International Junior Science Olympiad (N = 133) and regular students from secondary schools (N = 305), age cohorts 10 to 17 years, participated. Design and methods:We adapted Holland’s well-established RIASEC-framework to analyze if and how it can also be used to assess students’ interest within science and in-school and out-of-school (leisure-time and enrichment) activities. The resulting questionnaire was piloted according to quality criteria and applied to analyze profiles of different groups (boys – girls, contest participants – non-participants). Results:The RIASEC-adaption to investigate profiles within science works apparently well for school and leisure-time activities. Concerning the interest in fostering measures, different emphases seem to appear. More research in this field needs to be done to adjust measures better to students’ interests and other pre-conditions in the future. Contrasting different groups like gender and participation in a junior science contest uncovered specific interest profiles. Conclusions:The instrument seems to offer a promising approach to identify different interest profiles for different environments and groups of students. Based on the results, further studies will be carried out to form a solid foundation for the design of enrichment measures. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Trial-to-trial fluctuations in attentional state while performing measures of intelligence were examined in the current study. Participants performed various measures of fluid and crystallized intelligence while also providing attentional state ratings prior to each trial. It was found that pre-trial attentional state ratings strongly predicted subsequent trial performance on the fluid intelligence measures, such that when participants rated their current attentional state as highly focused on the current task, performance tended to be high compared to when participants reported their current attentional state as being low and unfocused on the current task. Furthermore, overall attentional state ratings and variability in attentional state ratings were moderately correlated with overall levels of performance on the fluid intelligence measures. However, attentional state ratings did not predict performance on the measure of crystallized intelligence. These results suggest a strong link between variation in attention state and variation in fluid intelligence as postulated by a number of recent theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consciousness is a topic of considerable human curiosity with a long history of philosophical analysis and debate. We consider there is nothing particularly complicated about consciousness when viewed as a necessary process of the vertebrate nervous system. Here, we propose a physiological "explanatory gap" is created during each present moment by the temporal requirements of neuronal activity. The gap extends from the time exteroceptive and proprioceptive stimuli activate the nervous system until they emerge into consciousness. During this "moment", it is impossible for an organism to have any conscious knowledge of the ongoing evolution of its environment. In our schematic model, a mechanism of "afference copy" is employed to bridge the explanatory gap with consciously experienced percepts. These percepts are fabricated from the conjunction of the cumulative memory of previous relevant experience and the given stimuli. They are structured to provide the best possible prediction of the expected content of subjective conscious experience likely to occur during the period of the gap. The model is based on the proposition that the neural circuitry necessary to support consciousness is a product of sub/preconscious reflexive learning and recall processes. Based on a review of various psychological and neurophysiological findings, we develop a framework which contextualizes the model and briefly discuss further implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Despite the fact that there are a few instruments designed to measure dispositional and contextual variables in educational contexts, the goal of this study is to elaborate and validate two questionnaires to measure learning interest, effort and progression as dispositional (IEPA) and contextual (AYEs) variables in secondary education students. Method: An initial version of both scales was developed. They were reviewed by a panel of experts and tested on two pilot studies. The final versions were administered to the described sample and their psychometric properties were tested. Factor analyses (exploratory and confirmatory) were conducted on three sets of data: Mathematics (n = 290), Spanish Language and Literature (n = 283), and Physical Education (n = 289). Results: Both final scales had three dimensions with four items in each dimension. All standardized loads and critical values of t were overwhelmingly positive, while alpha coefficients ranged from .85 to .91. Both scales showed adequate construct validity, convergent validity, discriminant validity and concurrent validity. Conclusions: Results showed that these new scales have adequate psychometric properties, allowing a valid and reliable assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: It has become common practice for people to multitask with electronic devices in everyday situations. We examined the effects of interrupting participants with instant messages while they watched a video presentation in a situation that resembled commonplace events such as a business meeting, a training presentation, or a classroom lecture. We compared them to participants who were not interrupted. We also investigated how interest in the topics presented affected learning. Results showed that interruptions reduced learning, by a small but statistically significant margin, which is consistent with the findings of similar studies. Importantly, interest level was as strong a predictor of learning as being interrupted, although interest did not moderate the effect of interruptions. Results showed that interruptions are disruptive but perhaps not as much as is commonly believed. The results also highlight the importance of studying individual difference factors, such as interest levels, in conjunction with experimental manipulations, when assessing the effects of multitasking. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Highlights: [•] Young infants preferentially attend to their mother's face. [•] We examine maternal factors and the mother-face preference at 3.5-months. [•] 57% of mothers in this community sample exhibited some symptoms of emotional distress. [•] Infants’ mother-face interest is associated with maternal psychological health. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The purpose of this study was to test a model linking interest, engagement, and performance. The study assessed three types of situational interest (triggered, maintained-feeling, and maintained-value), behavioral engagement, behavioral disaffection, and performance in Spanish language classes. These variables were assessed in the classroom over a nine-month period on a sample of 565 Spanish secondary students aged 12 to 17 years (mean age = 13.78 years; SD = 1.14). A series of structural equation models revealed that the three types of situational interest significantly predicted engagement, disaffection, and performance; engagement and disaffection also predicted performance; as hypothesized, engagement and disaffection mediated the effects of situational interest on academic performance. To conclude, the implications of these findings are discussed in the light of current theory of interest and educational intervention programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article adds to sociocultural theories of learning by investigating knowing and learning in the hobby of model rocketry. Hobbies are paradigmatic of interest-based, long-term pursuits and studying the tailored practices the rocketeers craft for themselves sheds further light on the relationship between the nature of practices and the learning processes that emerge in their enactment. My window into this issue is the core problem of determining thestability of model rockets, across phases of design, construction, and flying. Using ethnographic and experimental data, I catalog the various individual and collectiveways of knowingrocket stability and articulate the manners in which they operate to foster and sustain the highly tailored pursuits characteristic of interest-based practices. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Inasmuch as design is a central activity in K-12 engineering education, understanding the students' motivation during engaging in engineering design activities will help educators to develop and evaluate strategies for engineering design challenges, and improve curriculum. The objective of this study is to better understand the relationship between students' interest and expectancy for success while engaged in two design activities in grades 9-12. The primary difference between the two activities was the strategy used to solve the design problems from a predictive analysis and a creative approach. Constructs of motivation for students' interest include task value (TV) and intrinsic goal orientation (IGO) and extrinsic goal orientation (EGO). Expectancy for success includes control of learning beliefs and self-efficacy for learning and performance. In this study, students ( n = 31) from three high schools that implement the Project Lead the Way curriculum in three states in the US participated in the study. Immediately after completing their design projects, each student was asked to complete a modified version of the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire survey instrument which evaluates their interest and expectancy for success. The results show that students were more intrinsically motivated to engage in a design activity that involves a predictive analysis than a creative approach. No significant correlation was found between students' expectancy for success and EGO in design tasks that utilized either predictive analysis or creative approach. The study also found that TV and IGO were good predictors for students' expectancy for success. Demographic information associated with students' motivation in the design activities is also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Sustained attention (i.e., focusing attention on an activity for a prolonged amount of time) has important implications for learning and memory. However, little is known regarding the behavioural factors that contribute to sustained attention during Internet learning. The primary purpose of the current study was to explore differences in navigational choices and recovery from unsuccessful actions of learners with high and low levels of sustained attention. Undergraduate students searched the Internet for information corresponding to an assigned low domain knowledge topic for 20min while their eye-gaze was recorded. High- and low-attending learners differed in the selection of links, level of linearity used to navigate the Internet, Web reading strategies, and frequency of deploying unsuccessful actions. These results indicate that sustained attention may be impacted by the monitoring of one’s progress towards the learning goal, and have implications for scaffolding provided by teachers and adaptive hypermedia systems. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The knowledge and the stimulation of the young learner's creativity is one of the most important directions of development and modernization of the educational process. The development of the students' creativity can lead in time to the progress of the societal progress, emphasizing every person's creative potential. The study aims at presenting aspects related to the knowledge and the stimulation of the young learner' s creative capacity, by creating a positive learning environment that will nurture the students' curiosity, developing the creative skills that are essential for learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses the database from an extensive international study on 15-year-old students (N = 8,815) to analyze the relationship between emotional factors and students' scientific literacy and explore the potential link between the emotions of the students and subsequent public engagement with science. The results revealed that students' scientific literacy is significantly correlated with their interest, enjoyment, and engagement in science learning (p < 0.001). The groups of students with high levels of emotional factors outperform their medium- and low-level counterparts in scientific literacy. Additional comparisons of emotions during science learning between these students and the adult population from another study indicate a number of similarities with the exception that the adults are more involved in learning science through television. It is suggested that improving the emotions that current students experience when learning science is more likely to enhance future public engagement in science-related issues. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study explores how young children appropriate school rules and what opportunities for active participation are afforded in a Reggio Emilia elementary classroom with particular interest in the interactional and communicative competences children display in situated practice. An ethnographic and microanalytic approach is used to study how the material environment and multimodal resources are mobilized in the activity. The analysis is based on video-recorded sequences in which 6- to 7-year-old children participate in a school project about rules for the schoolyard. The detailed analysis demonstrates how the children plan, reflect, enact, and discuss how to apply their own co-constructed rules in locally relevant ways in the playground. Overall, the findings shed light on how opportunities for children's active participation are situated within and also afforded by the particular Reggio Emilia educational practice that is also shaped by the learning process itself. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: Recent research, treating interest as an emotion, indicates the cognitive appraisals of novelty-complexity and coping potential predict interest. This appraisal-based model of interest has not yet been applied to educational research. The present study evaluated the significance of the model regarding the activity of reading expository, academic-oriented text, and assessed whether a third previously untested appraisal of goal relevance could predict interest as well. Sixty-five undergraduate psychology students, 41 females and 24 males, completed several instruments—assessments of interest and three appraisals across time, experimental texts, and a measure trait curiosity as a control variable. Goal relevance, was shown to predict interest across the sample to a statistically significant degree (Unstandardized β=.567; t =6.258; p <.001), displaying more predictive power than the combined effects of the original two appraisals. These results and the study''s implications are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: To investigate children’s theories of motivation, we asked 166 children (8–12years of age) to rate the effect of various motivational strategies on task interest, over the short and long terms, in activities described as appealing or unappealing. Children viewed the rewards strategy as resulting in greatest interest except when implemented over the long term for appealing activities. Individual difference analyses revealed that some children held operant theories of motivation, in which rewards were central, and others held hybrid theories, in which rewards were key, but some allowance was made for interest to be self-sustaining in the absence of inducements. Children’s theories predicted their academic self-regulation. Their theories are discussed relative to an expert theory of motivation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: Past research has revealed the positive impact that interest development can have on achievement outcomes with early-adolescents in physical education (PE). Interest is considered a psychological state of engaging and willingness to reengage in specific content that develops over time; however, little work to date has examined interest development over time using methods that obtain in-depth perspectives of students and intimate knowledge of the context. Purpose: To examine the factors early-adolescent students report to have an impact on the development of individual interest in PE and explore how students view the relationship between individual interest and learning in PE. Participants: A total of eight students from one middle school class in the Midwestern United States were purposefully sampled based on their different levels of individual interest toward PE. There was an even split between males (n = 4) and females (n = 4) and students were mostly Caucasian. The setting consisted of a traditional multi-activity curriculum that stressed large-sided team sports and recreational games. Data collection: Formal and informal interviews, field note observations, and survey data were collected over an 18-week period. Data analysis: Data were analyzed from a naturalistic perspective using inductive analysis and constant comparison. Multiple procedures were used to establish trustworthiness of the data including triangulation, peer debriefing, searches for disconfirming evidence, and an extended period of time in the context as a non-participant observer. Findings: Opportunities to practice and perceived competence were the main factors that students deemed as important ingredients to developing individual interest. Students viewed learning as an integral component for developing individual interest, but suggested that meaningful learning did not often take place during the semester. Characteristics of the curriculum and pedagogy were central to the students' reports and are discussed further in relation to individual interest. Conclusions: Results from this study build on past interest motivation research in many ways. First, while past studies have identified actual skill as an important component for building individual interest, the students of this study reported that perceived competence is also essential. Furthermore, findings revealed how traditional multi-activity curriculum can create barriers to creating individual interest. Finally, students discussed learning as a crucial element in developing individual interest, but did not view their PE class as an environment where meaningful learning occurred. Moving toward longer and more meaningful curricular units of instruction such as Sport Education could enhance the development of individual interest with early adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world has become increasingly complex. Curriculum methods for the gifted are likewise. Extracted from these seminal and ongoing curriculum approaches are six rules based on best practices and research from our field, which can be grasped easily and applied by teachers anywhere. When teachers work from a set of principles they can adapt to needs of students and support growth, regardless of context. Using principles strengthens teaching and supports gifted students, and perhaps all students. The six principles include: a) focus on unique pattern of strengths, b) group students by interests or abilities at least part of the time, c) move as far and as fast in the basic skills as possible, d) enrich individual interests, e) offer mediation, counseling, mentoring and facilitation, and f ) provide the tools for life-long learning. Keywords: Gifted, talented, curriculum methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We tested whether a utility value intervention (via manipulated relevance) influenced interest and performance on a task and whether this intervention had different effects depending on an individual's performance expectations or prior performance. Interest was defined as triggered situational interest (i.e., affective and emotional task reactions) and maintained situational interest (i.e., inclination to engage in the task in the future). In 2 randomized experiments, 1 conducted in the laboratory and the other in a college classroom, utility value was manipulated through a writing task in which participants were asked to explain how the material they were learning (math or psychology) was relevant to their lives (or not). The intervention increased perceptions of utility value and interest, especially for students who were low in expected (laboratory) or actual (classroom) performance. Mediation analyses revealed that perceptions of utility value explained the effects of the intervention on interest and predicted performance. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to identify factors that statistically explain the variation and the measures on the level of motivation of a sample of mathematics students in a university. Specifically, this analysis will identify groups of similar items and reduce the number of variables used in a study. This article explains the use of exploratory factor analysis in extracting factors of personal belief and motivational factors among students in learning mathematics. The adaptation of these factors can be used for assessing academic performance in relation to motivation level. By identifying these factors, the mathematics educators or researchers will be able to find ways to improve the condition of the factors and also to further investigate the factors based on confirmatory approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two studies tested the effect of humor, embedded in learning materials, on task interest. College student participants ( N = 359, N = 172) learned a new math technique with the presence or absence of humor in the learning program and/or test instructions. Individual interest in math was measured initially and also tested as a factor. The results showed that the effect of humor in the learning program depended on individual interest in math. Humor raised task interest for those with low individual interest in math but slightly lowered task interest for those with high individual interest in math. Mediating variables of this effect were tested across both studies. Although the mediating variables showed inconsistency, humor may affect task interest through affective responses immediately following the instruction, rather than in subsequent interaction with the task. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the importance of creating a learning environment that triggers situational interest. It says that the creation of a situationally interesting atmosphere in physical education class is likely to enhance the development and growth of individual interest in physical activity. It reveals that situational interest can be improved by modifying certain aspects of the learning environment such as learning climate, the structure of learning experiences, and task presentation.

Purpose: Although conversational recasting has been a generally successful treatment approach, the precise factors that influence children's learning through recasts are not yet understood. In this study, we examined details of the relationship between child utterance and clinician utterance that seemed likely to influence learning. Method: Three measures were calculated from transcripts of recasting sessions with 17 preschoolers with specific language impairment. In all sessions, 3rd person singular -s served as the target. The measures of interest were the frequency of recasts following child utterances that were prompted by clinicians, the frequency of clinicians' recasts of subjectless sentences, and the frequency of clinicians' noncorrective recasts. We assessed the short-term and long-term predictive value of these measures through regression analyses. Results: Noncorrective recasts proved to be a positive predictor of short- and long-term gains in the use of the target form. Recasts of subjectless sentences were associated with poorer outcomes, though their contribution was relatively small. Conclusions: The nature of learning that takes place varies according to the relationship between child and clinician utterances during the recasting process. These variations have implications for clinical practice and for how learning through recasting is characterized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the nature of college students' interest or lack of interest in science and the factors to which they attributed their interest or lack of interest. Twenty-four college students were interviewed to gain an understanding of their ideas and experiences of science; their overall interest in science; their interest levels in four aspects of science: (1) learning science facts/ concepts in school, (2) learning science facts/concepts outside of school, (3) figuring out scientific knowledge in school, and (4) figuring out scientific knowledge outside of school; and the factors to which they attributed their interest or lack of interest in science. The constant comparative method of qualitative analysis was used for data analysis. The findings revealed that most students had different levels of interest in the four aspects of science. Almost all students who identified themselves as uninterested in science were very interested in some areas of science in some contexts. Reasons to account for the different levels of interest in different aspects of science and implications for education are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-stakes testing has driven the way that educators deliver instruction. Historically, standardized testing has been in existence since the 1800s, but the impact of accountability was not recognized until the late 1970s. Science educators are trying to balance the requirements of state assessments with creative and meaningful curricula. Inquiry-based science instruction has led the way in assisting students in the process of discovering knowledge for themselves instead of simply being asked to recall information. Inquiry learning promotes creativity by increasing motivation, wonderment, and curiosity. The author proposes that inquiry is the key to enhancing creativity, while still meeting the demands of standardized testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated example choice as a new method for the teaching of formal theoretical principles. Formal principles are presented with several examples from different topics, and students choose the one that interests them most. Example choice might be related to prior knowledge, interest, or perceived control. In an experimental study, we examined the effects of degree of example choice and degree of prior knowledge on interest, perceived control, and learning outcomes in a presentation on confirmation bias. The main finding was that participants who could choose an example showed more interest in the presentation of the formal principle than participants who either were given an example by the experimenter or only saw the presentation. Control was lowest for the group without example choice and without prior knowledge. Finally, prior knowledge, but not example choice, increased performance on a transfer of knowledge task. Example choice thus offers a new approach for closing the gap between formal principles as presented at school and a student's interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study advances documentary film effects research by comparing the influence of a political documentary with a historical reenactment film on narrative engagement, affect, learning, and interest. Using the Rwandan genocide as a context of study, a documentary film, The Triumph of Evil, and the historical reenactment fictional film, Hotel Rwanda, were examined. Results revealed significant differences between documentary and historical reenactment film exposure for affective responses and issue knowledge gain. However, increased issue interest and narrative engagement were not significantly different for the two stimulus groups, suggesting that dramatic fictional reenactments of socio-political events lead to increased issue interest as much or more than the live footage and factual account of events offered in a documentary. The results of this study are discussed in terms of their importance for key democratic outcome variables (e.g., knowledge and participation), along with suggestions for future documentary film research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Color coding has been proposed to promote more effective learning. However, insufficient evidence currently exists to show how color coding leads to better learning. The goal of this study was to investigate the underlying cause of the color coding effect by utilizing eye movement data. Fifty-two participants studied either a color-coded or conventional format of multimedia instruction. Eye movement data were collected during the study. The results indicate that color coding increased retention and transfer performance. Enhancement of learning by color coding was due to efficiency of locating corresponding information between illustration and text. Color coding also attracted attention of learners to perceptually salient information. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Students’ learning has been the center of schooling. This study examined the contribution of situational interest motivation and cognitive engagement in workbooks to student achievement in learning health-related fitness knowledge. Situational interest, performance on solving workbook problems, and knowledge gain in cardio-respiratory fitness and benefits were measured in 670 third-grade students from 13 randomly selected urban elementary schools. Structural equation modeling and regression curve estimation analyses revealed that situational interest contributed little to workbook performance and knowledge gain. Performance on solving workbook problems contributed significantly to knowledge gain. The results also show that skipping workbook tasks had stronger negative impact on knowledge gain than performing the tasks incorrectly, suggesting the importance of engaging students in the learning process by attempting the workbook tasks. The findings reinforced the value of using workbooks to facilitate cognitive knowledge learning in physical education, but raised questions about the direct function of situational interest on engaging students in cognitive learning. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

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 learner's 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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the modality effect in multimedia, a text accompanying a picture should be auditorily presented instead of visually in order to avoid split of attention. In two experimental studies (34 and 78 participants, respectively), the impact and possible compensatory effects of two aptitude variables, that is, memory strategy skills and working memory capacity, on multimedia learning were tested. Aptitude–treatment–interaction effects were found with respect to comprehension (Study 1) and transfer (Study 2). The modality effect was confirmed for less-skilled learners in memory strategy use but not for highly skilled ones. Memory strategy skills and working memory capacity differentially affected multimedia learning, depending on task features and demands. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In 1980 a number of scholars independently discovered methods for studying “aha” reactions, and the role of metaphorical language in human activities. I see my work as parallel to that of Lester Luborsky, Arnold Model, and Lakoff and Johnson, but with a special interest on my part in bridging psychological and biological perspectives. In my article, I review the history of my own voyage towards such bridging, portrayed in my books, Mapping the Mind (2003a) and Psyche and Brain (2003c), and papers tying together affect theory, learning theory, cognitive theory, and neuroscience insights on how emotion is instantiated in brain (and the role of the cerebellum). Basically, the idea is that mind makes brain makes mind makes brain—ad infinitum. Building on the work of Eric Kandel (on explicit memory) and Masao Ito (on implicit memory), we end up with new ways of understanding emotion and Freud's conscious/unconscious distinction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In a typical application of association rule learning from market basket data, a set of transactions for a fixed period of time is used as input to rule learning algorithms. For example, the well-known Apriori algorithm can be applied to learn a set of association rules from such a transaction set. However, learning association rules from a set of transactions is not a one time only process. For example, a market manager may perform the association rule learning process once every month over the set of transactions collected through the last month. For this reason, we will consider the problem where transaction sets are input to the system as a stream of packages. The sets of transactions may come in varying sizes and in varying periods. Once a set of transactions arrive, the association rule learning algorithm is executed on the last set of transactions, resulting in new association rules. Therefore, the set of association rules learned will accumulate and increase in number over time, making the mining of interesting ones out of this enlarging set of association rules impractical for human experts. We refer to this sequence of rules as “association rule set stream” or “streaming association rules” and the main motivation behind this research is to develop a technique to overcome the interesting rule selection problem. A successful association rule mining system should select and present only the interesting rules to the domain experts. However, definition of interestingness of association rules on a given domain usually differs from one expert to another and also over time for a given expert. This paper proposes a post-processing method to learn a subjective model for the interestingness concept description of the streaming association rules. The uniqueness of the proposed method is its ability to formulate the interestingness issue of association rules as a benefit-maximizing classification problem and obtain a different interestingness model for each user. In this new classification scheme, the determining features are the selective objective interestingness factors related to the interestingness of the association rules, and the target feature is the interestingness label of those rules. The proposed method works incrementally and employs user interactivity at a certain level. It is evaluated on a real market dataset. The results show that the model can successfully select the interesting ones. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In two studies, we investigated infants’ preference for infant-directed (ID) action or ‘motionese’ ( Brand, Baldwin & Ashburn, 2002 ) relative to adult-directed (AD) action. In Study 1, full-featured videos were shown to 32 6- to 8-month-olds, who demonstrated a strong preference for ID action. In Study 2, infants at 6–8 months (n = 28) and 11–13 months (n = 24) were shown either standard ID and AD clips, or clips in which demonstrators’ faces were blurred to obscure emotional and eye-gaze information. Across both ages, infants showed evidence of preferring ID to AD action, even when faces were blurred. Infants did not have a preference for still-frame images of the demonstrators, indicating that the ID preference arose from action characteristics, not demonstrators’ general appearance. These results suggest that motionese enhances infants’ attention to action, possibly supporting infants’ learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One class of multiple-system models of category learning posits that within a single category-learning task people can learn to utilize different systems with different category representations to classify different stimuli. This is referred to as stimulus-dependent representation (SDR). The use of SDR implies that learners switch from subtask to subtask as trials demand. Thus, the use of SDR can be assessed via slowed response times, following a representation switch. Additionally, the use of SDR requires control of executive attention to keep inactive representations from interfering with the current response. Subjects were given a category learning task composed of one- and two-dimensional substructures. Control of executive attention was measured using a working memory capacity (WMC) task. Subjects most likely to be using SDR showed greater slowing of responses following a substructure switch and a greater correlation between learning performance and WMC. These results provide support for the principle of SDR in category learning and the reliance of SDR on executive attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this essay, Frederick Schmitt and Reza Lahroodi explore the value of curiosity for inquiry and knowledge. They defend an appetitive account of curiosity, viewing curiosity as a motivationally original desire to know that arises from having one’s attention drawn to the object and that in turn sustains one’s attention to it. Distinguishing curiosity from wonder, the authors explore several sources of the epistemic value of curiosity. First, curiosity is tenacious: curiosity whether a proposition is true leads to curiosity about related issues, thereby deepening our knowledge. Second, it is to some extent biased in favor of topics in which we already have a practical or epistemic interest. Third, and most important, curiosity is largely independent of our interests: it fixes our attention on objects in which we have no antecedent interest, thereby broadening our knowledge. Schmitt and Lahroodi elucidate the value of curiosity by outlining its role in levels of development — an approach indebted to John Dewey’s explanation of the value of curiosity. Finally, they raise some questions about the implications of their account for educational practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores, through an analysis of key policy documents, the construction of the political concepts of social exclusion and inclusion through further education (FE). During the first decade of the New Labour government the concepts of social exclusion and inclusion have undergone a process of active construction. In between The Learning Age and Raising Expectations, different political concerns come to the fore. Whereas in 1998 social exclusion encompassed the broad category of 'disadvantaged people' and reducing social exclusion was linked firmly to promoting employability, by 2007 interest with the socially excluded was more specifically focused upon '16-17 year olds not in education, employment or training', and FE was to promote social inclusion, in part, through challenging anti-social behaviour. Three main models of constructing inclusion emerge: instrumental, social and psychological. This article examines the impact of the instrumental model and argues that focusing FE upon the needs of the economy provides a narrow concept of inclusion and a degraded view of education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a framework for assessing the quality of education, based on the outcomes defined in educational standards. The author takes the view that educational standards reflect the mission that schools must fulfill. He explains that the classroom curriculum, derived from educational standards, must customize the learning process to respond to the teaching–learning environment. Defining quality as the extent to which the delivery of the school curriculum realises the learning outcomes defined in the educational standards, the author proposes that quality in education should be evaluated using two approaches: relative achievement assessment and absolute achievement assessment. In elaborating on the two dimensions of assessment on which the model is based, the author highlights the need for greater attention to be paid to values and attitudes in assessing quality of education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asking questions is an activity central to inquiry learning. This research examined documents created during an open inquiry learning process of the Biomind programme for Israeli high school students. In addition, to understand how students express and develop curiosity in learning, we observed students during a molecular biology lesson, a subject not included in their inquiry project. We performed a grounded theory qualitative approach, based on content analysis. This paper presents four models for establishing logical associations between inquiry questions, and these can serve as a framework for the open inquiry plan. We found that students develop an open inquiry process on the basis of these models. In addition, we found that curious students conduct their inquiries by using the model providing the least degree of certainty, but a high degree of dynamic inquiry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Primary school pupils in the UK today may be less familiar with natural objects, less exposed to formal natural history teaching and have less time given to school-based observation and discussion of natural objects. This study of children's responses to a 'Nature Table' of displayed natural objects was designed to assess pupils' knowledge of those objects, the sources of their knowledge and the phenomenological nature of those children's interest in items which they selected to talk about or to photograph. Children in the study were drawn from the first year of formal schooling (age 5-6) and the fifth year of formal schooling (age 9-10). Responses have been recorded and analysed using a simple systemic network. Results show that pupils are attracted most towards items with: an animate or novel nature or appearance, or for which they have some prior familiarity. Items are also attractive if they have aesthetic attributes, which display some responsiveness to the child or engage with the child's previous experience, or elicit affective feeling. The present study reveals a greater home-based, rather than school-based, source for much of this experience and suggests how the criteria for teachers selecting natural objects for learning in school might be improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on how piano teachers can make piano lessons attractive to potential students and maintain their interest in music. Piano teachers are faced with the difficult task of enticing new students because of their negative perception of learning music brought about by an inherited dislike for classical music. The author suggests that piano teachers need to stop using the terms "classical" and "popular," for labeling music as it tends to alienate a particular segment of potential students. Another point to consider is to remove any association between styles of music and styles of learning, so as to show the student that there are different ways in learning and performing music.