Article Summary Of:

Hidi, S. and Renninger, K. (2006).  The Four-Phase Model of Interest Development.  Educational Psychologist Vol. 42 (2), To be published Spring 2007. 

 

Primary Topic(s) Addressed:  Motivation; Interest

Secondary Topic(s) Addressed:  n/a

 

How this might be used on my dissertation:

Motivation / Interest:  this paper would be a good source when citing motivation and interest- and how it gets generated as well as maintained

Questions Raised (potential topic for me):

How do we generate interest in a gaming environment? 
- we might hold their hands at first, but gaming environment favors self-sufficiency:  learners learn by doing, aren't 'fed' the information as they are in most classrooms

How do we move gamers to the latter phases of 'self-sufficient' goal setting / investigation?
- this may happen naturally as gaming naturally prefers self-directed, player-centered learning

 

Summary of Paper:

interest is presented, see definition

author suggests a Four-Phase model of Interest Development and how it can help intervene in educational environments:

  1. triggered situational interest:  short term, a spark
  2. maintained situational interest:  prolonged #1
  3. emerging (less-developed) individual interest:  personal mind-state, longer term, supported environment
  4. well-developed individual interest:  long term mind-state- enjoy something very much

each phase has differing levels of value, affect, and is dependant on the person's experience, temperament and genetics.  First two stages are often externally generated, while last two are more internally generated

MDL:  Model of Domain Learning:  opposing theory, where expertise in an area corresponds to interest (if you are an expert on something, you must have an interest in it)
 

Does interest reside in the individual or in the interaction of the individual with his environment?  (typical cognitive psychology issue)

Author says the earlier stages are characterized by affect, whereas later stages are more cognitive- curiosity / a want to return to the subject area
 

w/r/t education: as interest develops, feelings of self-efficacy do as well:  we can become more self-sufficient, raising questions and trying to answer them

Author notes that interest typically doesn't develop in isolation- as teachers we should consider this - more important in the early stages of the model

 

Terms / Definitions defined:

  1. individual interest- a relatively enduring predisposition to reengage with particular contents over time

Good Quotes:

see paper (circled)