ERIC Number: EJ1021809
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013
Pages: 22
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0950-0693
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Exploring the Development of College Students' Situational Interest in Learning Science
Lin, Huann-shyang; Hong, Zuway-R; Chen, Ya-Chun
International Journal of Science Education, v35 n13 p2152-2173 2013
This quasi-experimental study explores how student cumulative situational interest, short-term preference generated by particular conditions such as novel experiences can be developed into better individual interest, an enduring predisposition to engage in certain activity such as chemistry lessons. A continuous intervention of integrating novelty and aesthetic experience into teaching was used for the experimental group ("n"?=?64) while another class of 105 students studying another course of physical science without the intervention of novelty and aesthetics served as a comparison group. The analysis of covariance comparing the two group students' pre-and post-test perceptions of learning science revealed that the experimental group outperformed the comparison group in their perceptions of interest, enjoyment, and aesthetics. The weekly assessment of student situational interest indicated that the experimental group students' situational interests were well maintained by two leading learning activities: demonstrations and hands-on experiments with novelty and aesthetic experience. The above results provide empirical evidence to support the theory of interest development, which proposes that the development goes through a cumulative and progressive procedure.
Descriptors: Quasiexperimental Design, Aesthetics, Science Education, Student Interests, Chemistry, Intervention, Teaching Methods, Student Attitudes, Pretests Posttests, Hands on Science, Novelty (Stimulus Dimension), Comparative Analysis, Role, Science Instruction, Science Experiments, Learning Activities, Learning Motivation, Questionnaires, Foreign Countries, College Students
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Taiwan
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A