Revisiting the Conceptualization, Measurement, and Generation of Interest

“…a participant’s long-term interest in the topic, thus linking the intermediary outcome (situational interest in science/environment) with longer-term, desired outcomes (sustained interest in science, including career choice in the field; Azevedo, 2011; Barron, 2006; Renninger & Hidi, 2011).”

“Interest is also often confused with engagement, attention, and curiosity (Renninger and Hidi, 2011, 2015), further complicating our understanding.”

“Furthermore, based on interest theories and research (for reviews see, Lepper & Henderlong, 2000; Renninger & Hidi, 2011), we tested the idea that explorative interest, as an epistemic motivational process, can explain the differences in performance and mastery goal leaders ’ responses to…”

“Given that individuals’ interests contain feelings, values and beliefs, it can be said that this explanation is not entirely speculative (see, for an extensive review, Renninger & Hidi, 2011).”

“…relationship between science media consumption (and the associated informal learning) and scientific interest is likely reciprocal with interest in science, presumably leading to reception of scientific media, which might in turn foster additional scientific interest (cf. Renninger & Hidi, 2011).”

“…discuss in their review of conceptualizations of interest, researchers have only just begun to develop systematic, consistent conceptualizations of interest [43], providing few methods or measurements that control for interacting roles of age, identity, cognitive development, and learning context.”

“Interest has been found to be an important affective motivational factor which supports focusing attention to tasks, increases cognitive functioning and enhances learning (Renninger and Hidi 2011).”

“It includes both cognitive and affective components (Hidi, Renninger, & Krapp, 2004; Renninger & Hidi, 2011).”

“This multi-method approach provides theoretically grounded empirical support for the Four-Phase Model of Interest Development that has been called for in the literature [34].”

“Renninger and Hidi (2011) have conceptualized and validated an Binterest^ construct in neuro-psychologywith several features that are compatible with the above-mentioned criteria including situational focus, interaction relevance, and affective state.”

“Also, studies focusing on the evolvement of situational interest during a specific learning task are still scarce although the transitory and dynamic nature of the construct is widely agreed on (Renninger & Hidi, 2011).”

“Educational psychology researchers have created several conceptual frameworks for interest, focusing on the different elements that comprise it [85].”

“Prior studies suggest, for example, that interest, curiosity, and engagement are critical intermediary outcomes in sparking longer-term engagement in areas such as science and environment (Barron, 2006; Hidi & Renninger, 2006; Renninger, 2009; Renninger & Hidi, 2011; Krapp & Prenzel, 2011).”

“It is developed over time through a person’s constant and consistent interaction with certain activities in a particular environment (Renninger and Hidi, 2011).”

“…activities (Harackiewicz and Knogler 2017; Knogler 2017; Knogler et al. 2015; Kosovich et al. 2015; Krapp 2005; O’Keefe and LinnenbrinkGarcia 2014; Renninger and Hidi 2011; Schiefele 2009; Trautwein et al. 2015; Tsai et al. 2008), interest has yet to be introduced and examined in research on…”

“Researchers have also used Renninger and Hidi (2011) four-phase model of interest development in the context of AI-assisted language learning (Fryer et al., 2019), Keller’s (1987) ARCS (attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction) model (e.g., Lin et al., 2021), and the theory of planned…”

“Often regarded as a motivational variable and/or an affective component in educational psychology, interest has been widely studied as a mechanism that stimulates students’ learning and academic achievement (Renninger & Hidi, 2011; Renninger et al., 1992).”

“STEM interest is a relatively enduring preference for certain topics, subject areas, and activities (Hidi, 1990; Renninger & Hidi, 2011; Schiefele, 1991); and STEM identity refers to how individuals know and name themselves, who one is or wants to be, as well as to how one is recognized by others…”

“The two phases are considered to be sequential and distinct and to represent a form of cumulative, progressive development (Renninger & Hidi, 2011).”

“In-depth retrospective interviews have proven to be a rich source of case material on interest in studies involving adult learners (e.g. see Barron, 2006; Renninger and Hidi, 2011).”

“Although an agreed on theoretical orientation towards the concept of interest does not exist (Renninger & Hidi, 2011), there is general consensus on the key aspects and characteristics of the concept of interest (Hasni & Potvin, 2015; Krapp & Prenzel, 2011).”

“Prior content knowledge is inextricably connected to prior achievement which together are key for self-efficacy (Bandura 1997), mastery goals (Dweck and Leggett 1988) and interest (Hidi 1990; Hidi and Renninger 2006; Renninger and Hidi 2011).”

“Interest is defined as affective and cognitive engagement with a specific object (Renninger and Hidi 2011, 2016).”

“…while self-reporting and perceptions (e.g., through questionnaires) is the most commonly employed methodology to collect motivational data and measure motivational constructs, there is a need to be cognizant of other options (Renninger and Hidi 2011), which may further explain the observed findings.”

“…association is combined with online activities should be considered; this could offer students new opportunities to control their learning environments and could lead to the development of an emerging, and then welldeveloped, individual interest (Renninger & Hidi, 2011; Renninger & Bachrach, 2015).”

“The four-phase model of interest development (Hidi & Renninger, 2006; Renninger & Hidi, 2011) maps these two aspects along a continuum, from triggered and maintained situational interest to the more enduring emerging and well-developed individual interest.”

“Interest itself, however, is not a single cognitive or psychological process (Renninger and Hidi, 2011), making it difficult to assess whether interest improves transfer.”

“…interest and interest in school science activities Interest is typically defined as being content specific, i.e. specific to an object, domain or activity, and having a multicomponent structure, i.e. a cognitive and an affective component (e.g. Krapp & Prenzel, 2011; Renninger & Hidi, 2011).”

“1), the key to development of interest in the classroom is facilitating student learning in an engaging way that helps them to make connections between the content and their own goals (Hulleman and Harackiewicz, 2009; Hofer, 2010), provides opportunities for students to be engaged with one another, and with content th…”

“To utilize behavioral measures of interest, researchers can include observational and activity data to examine how learners engage and interact with content that can reveal information about their relationship to that content [121].”

“Nevertheless, one should also consider the development of interest from the perspective that interest and perception of value might develop simultaneously (Renninger & Hidi, 2011; Renninger & Su, 2012).”

“This development is theorized to unfold across the following stages: triggered situational interest, maintained situational interest, emerging individual interest, and well-developed individual interest (Renninger & Hidi, 2011).”

“I-type curiosity corresponds to a modest appetite for knowledge, which is activated by opportunities for new discoveries that will be satiated if such discoveries generate situational interest and positive mood (Litman, 2005; Renninger & Hidi, 2011; Silvia, 2008).”

“While individual interest is a characteristic of a person (Hidi & Renninger, 2006; Renninger & Hidi, 2011) and can therefore be conceptualized as a stable personal dispo‐ sition, situational interest is raised by interesting stimuli (Hidi & Baird, 1986; Knogler, Harackiewicz, Gegenfurtner, &…”

“…and Silvia (2006), for example, argued that enjoyment is not a proxy for interest, whereas Ainley and Ainley (2011) would argue that enjoyment and interest are distinct but intertwined constructs (for relevant overviews, see Ainley & Hidi, 2014; Pintrich & Schunk, 2002; Renninger & Hidi, 2011).”

“…still “a lack of a consistent or adequate theory of interest” (Allport, 1946, p. 341) some 70 years after Allport declared this being “one of the biggest defects” within learning research, five characteristics of interest as a motivational variable are commonly agreed upon (Renninger & Hidi, 2011).”

“Interest gets stronger over time from curiosity (Renninger & Hidi, 2011).”

“…construct encompassing motivational, cognitive and affective components, interest refers to a psychological state of engaging and an inclina - tion to reengage with specific content (Hidi & Renninger, in science at school (Anderman & Maehr, 1994 ; Schmidt et al., 2001; Renninger & Hidi, 2011 ).”

“Hidi and Renninger ([13]) specify that individual interest includes an individual’s perceived value for the content being taught as well the importance of accrued knowledge or perceived competence with regard to individual interest.”

“Thus, while guiding and facilitating learning in different contexts, interest has proven to be an essential affective factor in varying learning contexts (Bamberger & Tal, 2009; Renninger & Hidi, 2011).”

“For example, if student scores on the interest subscale are low, instructors could focus on providing students with novel, challenging quantitative tasks and allowing students to interact with each other as they solve these tasks to generate interest (Renninger and Hidi, 2011).”

“Theoretical Framework and Review of Relevant Literature Interest and learning Interest is an important cognitive and affective motivational factor guiding attention and facilitating learning in different contexts (Renninger & Hidi, 2011).”

“…willingness to engage in a specific activity in the absence of any extrinsic incentives (for discussion on different conceptualizations, see Renninger & Hidi, 2011), and previous studies have shown that interest enhances a variety of outcomes, such as work performance (see Nye et al.,…”

“…are positively connoted phenomena: They guide career decisions (Holland, 1997; Lent et al., 2018), are accompanied by activation and positive feelings (Knogler, 2017; Renninger & Hidi, 2011; Silvia, 2008), or direct (cognitive) energy (Ackerman, 1996; Ziegler, Schroeter, Ludtke, & Roemer, 2018).”

“The role of interests in the higher educational choice Interest is a construct that combines cognition, motivation, and affect (Renninger & Hidi, 2011), and can be defined as ‘the psychological state of engaging or the predisposition to reengage with particular classes of objects, events, or ideas…”

“In a novel learning situation, pupils with more developed individual interests have more and better possibilities for experiencing related situational interest (Renninger & Hidi, 2011).”

“a full explanation for this phenomenon (Renninger and Hidi 2011).”

“Potvin and Hasni (2014) argue based on their systematic review that most of these projects have not succeeded in supporting the development of interest (Renninger & Hidi, 2011).”

“Students who are interested in mathematics enjoy engaging in math, tend to reengage in mathematical contents, and view mathematics as important for their individual development [9].”

“That is, youth who are interested in STEM are very likely to seek out and engage with STEM-related content and activities both in- and out-of-school (Renninger & Hidi, 2011; Renninger & Riley, 2013).”

“However, it boosts other individual factors such as the desire for deeper knowledge or engagement with the objects of interest (Renninger and Hidi 2011 ).”