Testing the predictors of boredom at school: Development and validation of the precursors to boredom scales

Abstract

BACKGROUND. Boredom has been found to be an important emotion for students' learning processes and achievement outcomes; however, the precursors of this emotion remain largely unexplored. AIM. In the current study, scales assessing the precursors to boredom in academic achievement settings were developed and tested. SAMPLE. Participants were 1,380 grade 5-10 students in mathematics classes. METHOD. The Precursors to Boredom Scales were tested for structural and convergent validity with multi-level confirmatory factor analyses (ML-CFA), and differences in the perception of the precursors of boredom due to gender were investigated. RESULTS. The first ML-CFA found support for the structural validity of the Precursors to Boredom Scales. In a second ML-CFA, the newly developed boredom scales showed good convergent validity with several key aspects of instructional quality. Finally, the results supported previous research that found no gender differences in academic self-concept and interest. CONCLUSION. The precursors contained in our scales are empirically separable. Implications of the current findings for research on boredom among students are discussed.

Students' level of boredom, boredom coping strategies, epistemic curiosity, and graded performance

“…Similar to curiosity, boredom has also been variously conceptualized as relational boredom (Harasymchuk & Fehr, 2010), academic boredom (Acee et al, 2010), and workplace boredom (Fisher, 1993), and investigated in different lines of research such as psychology (e.g., Mercer-Lynn, Bar, & Eastwood, 2014) and education (e.g., Daschmann, Goetz, & Stupnisky, 2011). Thus, numerous definitions of boredom can be found in the relevant literature (Lehr & Todman, 2009).…”

Academic boredom among students in higher education: A mixed-methods exploration of characteristics, contributors and consequences

“…Work of a broadly similar nature has also been undertaken in schools (Goetz et al, 2006;Frenzel et al, 2007;Nett et al, 2010Nett et al, , 2011Daschmann et al, 2011), with a critical review of boredom in schooling provided by Belton and Priyadharshini (2007). These have consistently demonstrated academic boredom to operate at different levels in different ways (e.g.…”

Aburrimiento y disfrute en clase de Lengua española en secundaria: predictores motivacionales y efectos sobre el rendimiento

“…Así, Ainley y Ainley (2011), Frenzel, Goetz, Lüdke, Pekrun y Sutton (2009) y Goetz, Frenzel, Hall y Pekrun (2008) se centraron en la emoción de disfrute. Por su parte, Acee et al (2010), Daschmann, Goetz y Stupnisky (2011), Nett, Goetz y Daniels (2010), Nett, Goetz y Hall (2011) y Pekrun, Goetz, Daniels, Stupnisky y Perry (2010) tuvieron en el aburrimiento su foco de análisis. Otros trabajos estudiaron el disfrute y el aburrimiento junto a otras emociones académicas (Daniels et al, 2009;Dettmers et al, 2011;Goetz, Frenzel, Pekrun, Hall y Lüdtke, 2007;Goetz, Hall, Frenzel y Pekrun, 2006;Pekrun, Goetz, Frenzel, Barchfeld y Perry, 2011).…”