The study sought to explore whether interactional teacher characteristics such as social congruence, subject-matter expertise, and cognitive congruence increase situational interest in students. Correlational and path analyses were conducted on a sample of 498 polytechnic students to assess potential differences in situational interest based on these three teacher characteristics and how well these characteristics predicted situational interest. Results revealed that students supported by teachers who scored high on these characteristics reported significantly higher levels of situational interest. Cognitive congruence was the most significant predictor of situational interest. Overall, the findings suggest that teachers play an influential role in increasing students' situational interest in the active-learning classroom. (Contains 1 table and 2 figures.)