Search

The purpose of the present study was to examine gender differences in mathematics interest. In a sample of middle school students (N = 366), we examined mathematics interest as a trait (i.e., individual interest) and as a current state (i.e., situational interest) during a learning activity in mathematics. Assessment of perceived competence, performance, and effort during learning was also included. Results revealed a significant difference between boys and girls in their ratings of individual interest, but not in the current experience of situational interest. Furthermore, boys and girls did not differ in performance during learning, but girls invested significantly more effort than boys. Results and their implications are discussed in relation to interest development, gender differences, and subjective beliefs.

There is little research about making instruction at school meaningful. This is surprising given that ample research suggests that many students do not find school a meaningful place, as documented by decline in interest during middle school, the frequency of boredom at school and decline in search for meaning among high school students. This article starts with an outline that considers both objective and subjective meaning in life. A review on different aspects of meaning in school, such as teaching meaning, purpose, identity, coherence, caring, aesthetics and agency, suggest that many ways to improve meaning in school have been underused and understudied. The inclusion of the philosophy of meaning in life extends the scope of research on interest by adding new components of objective meaning that may enrich school activities. This article will review both what has been done and what needs to be done. The article concludes that taking the perspective of meaning in life into account would open new avenues for empirical research in educational psychology.

Processing fluency--the experienced ease with which a mental operation is performed--has attracted little attention in educational psychology, despite its relevance. The present article reviews and integrates empirical evidence on processing fluency that is relevant to school education. Fluency is important, for instance, in learning, self-assessment of knowledge, testing, grading, teacher-student communication, social interaction in the multicultural classroom, and emergence of interest. After a brief overview of basic fluency research we review effects of processing fluency in three broad areas: metacognition in learning, belief formation, and affect. Within each area, we provide evidence-based implications for education. Along the way, we offer fluency-based insights into phenomena that were long known but not yet sufficiently explained (e.g., the effect of handwriting on grading). Bringing fluency (back) to education may contribute to research and school practice alike.

Building on common assumptions in theories of interest and mathematics education, this experimental study examined the effect of context personalization based on individual preferences, group personalization, and example choice with preselected popular examples on middle school students' situational interest and performance in mathematics. Participants (N = 713) learned a principle in probability calculus in one of four instructional conditions. Individual interest and perceived competence were examined as moderators on triggered and maintained situational interest, perceived value, task effort, and performance. Results showed that example choice triggered situational interest in the learning activity and that context personalization influenced perceived value and effort, contingent on students' perceived competence and individual interest in mathematics. We discuss results in relation to previous findings on interest-based interventions and the theoretical and practical implications.