The role of situational interest in personalized learning.

Abstract

Context personalization-the incorporation of students' out-of-school interests into learning tasks-has recently been shown to positively affect students' situational interest and their performance and learning in mathematics. However, few studies have shown effects on both interest and achievement, drawing into question whether context personalization interventions can achieve both ends. The effects of personalization are theorized to result from activation of students' prior knowledge of personal interests and generation of situational interest in math tasks, though theorists have begun to question whether situational interest serves as a mechanism by which learning outcomes are achieved. This experimental study examines whether personalizing 4 units of algebra problems that high school students (N ϭ 150) solve in an intelligent tutoring system could improve their performance in units (i.e., accuracy and learning efficiency) and on classroom exams, whether adolescents who solved personalized problems would report greater situational interest in units (and later, individual interest in math) than peers who solved standard problems, and whether paths through situational interest would contribute to effects of personalization on outcomes. High school students in the personalization condition reported greater triggered situational interest in experimental units, and triggered interest predicted in-tutor outcomes (accuracy, learning efficiency). A total effect of personalization was also observed on classroom exam performance and individual interest in mathematics. Implications for theories of interest and context personalization are discussed, as are implications for math instruction and design of personalized learning environments. Educational Impact and Implications StatementContext personalization refers to an instructional design strategy that incorporates students' out-of-school interests into learning tasks like math problems. Recent research has shown that personalization positively affects students' situational interest and their performance and learning in math, but students seldom obtain both outcomes. This study confirmed that personalizing 4 units of algebra story problems to students' out-of-school interests was sufficient to increase their situational interest in the task and to improve the efficiency with which they solved problems within the intelligent tutoring system. Months later, those who solved personalized problems also reported greater interest in mathematics and scored higher on a classroom math test than a control group. These results extend evidence for the benefits of personalization and confirm that personalizing problems to incorporate student interests at an appropriate depth and specificity can simultaneously produce effects on math interest and learning.

Reciprocal Predictions Between Interest, Self-Efficacy, and Performance During a Task

“…It has been associated with continuing an activity (e.g., reading; Ainley et al, , 2005 and study-related choices (e.g., taking more psychology courses; Harackiewicz et al, 2000), and as theories on interest development (Hidi and Renninger, 2006) suggest, it may, through re-engagement, eventually lead to the development of an individual interest (i.e., enduring interest in a domain and desire to re-engage with it; Renninger, 2009). However, there is fairly limited direct evidence on this (however, see Lipstein and Renninger, 2007;Rotgans and Schmidt, 2017;Bernacki and Walkington, 2018;Nuutila et al, 2018).…”

Interest-enhancing approaches to mathematics curriculum design: Illustrations and personalization

“…The study found both short-term performance and longterm learning gains for the personalization condition compared to the control condition. In a follow-up study, Bernacki and Walkington (2018) found that personalization triggered students' immediate interest in the learning task, and enhanced the efficiency (time) at which the students learned. This triggered interest became maintained over time, and over the course of the school year transformed into interest in the domain of mathematics.…”

System for monitoring and adjusting the learning process of primary schoolchildren based on the EEG data analysis

“…Traditionally, the Russian and foreign pedagogy of XX century was focused on the quality of the learning, skills and attitudes. Various forms and methods of control were able to not only to verify learning, skills and attitudes, but also change the system of teaching in the process of learning, which allows to individualize and differentialize it [1][2][3][4][5].…”

“…Since the works of L. S. Vygotskiy, the educational psychology implied the analysis of the development of the higher mental functions, such as imagination, memory, thinking, attention, etc. [2,6] Russian and foreign teachers and psychologists tried to consider corresponding neuropsychological knowledge in the process of the learning and control [5,7]. Recently, the great opportunities for objective control and evaluation of such features were discovered based on the achievements of modern Introduction of the digital learning devices and remote educational technologies, as well as transition of the learning in the digital environment, highlighted the issue of relevance of the learning process quality control.…”