The Power of Interest for Motivation and Engagement

Interest Matters

“…In a series of studies, he varied the novelty, complexity, surprisingness, and incongruity of visual stimuli, and found that each of these collative variables increased attention, arousal, and interest. More broadly, these principles underlie many interventions intended to promote situational interest in educational contexts, which Renninger and Hidi (2016) refer to as “triggers for interest.” For example, various factors triggered situational interest in a college biology class, such as hands-on activities, novelty, surprise, and group work (Palmer, 2009). Similar factors were important in ninth-grade biology classes, where novelty proved most important, but choice, physical activity, and social involvement were also triggers.…”

“…First, the problem presented to students highlights a lack of critical knowledge needed to solve the problem, which can trigger situational interest. Second, the search for answers to the problem stimulates curiosity questions—self-generated questions that can promote the development of deeper interest—while requiring students to acquire and organize new knowledge about the topic, which can promote both interest and learning (Renninger & Hidi, 2016). …”

“…Students who discover academic interests in high school and college are better prepared for satisfying careers. Interest is a powerful motivational process that energizes learning and guides academic and career trajectories (Renninger & Hidi, 2016). Can policies help instructors harness this motivation and thus help students develop interest?…”

“…The four-phase model of interest development (Hidi & Renninger, 2006; Renninger & Hidi, 2016) integrates these two perspectives and their development: Particular situations trigger interest, which can then develop across situations and over time to become more enduring. First, features of the environment (e.g., novelty, ambiguity, surprise) catch the person’s attention.…”

Understanding Interest and Self-Efficacy in the Reading and Writing of Students with Persisting Specific Learning Disabilities during Middle Childhood and Early Adolescence

“…First, interest plays a role in what is attended to during instruction at school (Hidi, 1995), As James (1890) observed over a century ago, interest “schools attention”. Indeed a recent review of the growing body of research on interest provided evidence for the beneficial impact of interest in focusing learners’ attention and providing learners with a basis for meaningful engagement in learning and motivation to succeed (Renninger & Hidi, 2016), Second, as Renninger and Hidi explained, as interest develops, it is increasingly coordinated with feelings of self-efficacy, the belief that one can succeed (e.g., see Eccles, Wigfield, Harold, & Blumenfeld, 1993), especially if the student is also succeeding based on valid assessment measures and that success is effectively communicated with the student.…”