Situational interest in tertiary mathematics courses: Individual determinants and stimulation through value-explicating material

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Stefanie Rach
• Subject Area: General and Domain-Specific Teaching and Learning
• Term: from 2018 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 397058861

High dropout rates in tertiary mathematics courses indicate that many students do not use learning opportunities successfully. In the literature, situational interest is identified as one important factor for successful learning processes. Situational interest can be divided into a feeling- and a value-related component. It is induced by factors of the individual, factors of the learning situation, and by their interaction. The role of situational interest for mathematical learning situations in school has been researched in detail. However, learning situations in tertiary mathematics courses differ from these substantially because at university, mathematics is discerned as a scientific, proving discipline whereas at school, mathematics is regarded as a tool to solve real-world problems. The aim of this project is to extend previous results concerning situational interests to learning situations in tertiary mathematics courses. The focus is on the two following questions: (1) Which individual, motivational and cognitive, factors and what characteristics of experience in learning situations determine situational interest? (2) Does situational interest relate to individual learning processes and their outcomes? These questions are central in two empirical studies addressing two different learning situations in tertiary mathematics courses. The first, longitudinal study focusses on the learning situation attending a lecture. In four lectures at three points in time each, approximately 170 students specify their situational interest. The relation between the situational interest reported and individual features (e. g. individual interest), the characteristics of experience in learning situations (e. g. the experience of autonomy), the anticipated learning process and their results (e. g. the effort and study contentment), will be analysed. These analyses will also be conducted in a second study on the learning situation solving tasks. This second study with 150 students will additionally investigate, grounded on expectancy-value models, (3) if material with explication (in contrast to material without value explication) stimulates the situational interest of teacher education students (in contrast to bachelor students). The material with value explication consists of tasks linking school and university mathematics, a connection that is presumably relevant for teacher education students in view of their perspective professional life. In addition to effort, the specific processing of these tasks will be used as an indicator of the learning process. In case the material turns out successful, a further study can analyse which effect a continuous use of the material may produce on (cognitive) learning success.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Co-Investigators: Professor Dr. Jan Retelsdorf; Professor Dr. Stanislaw Schukajlow-Wasjutinski