Browsing by Subject "Student interest"
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Item Mechanisms influencing student understanding on an outdoor guided field trip(2009-12) Caskey, Nourah al-Rashid; Richardson, R. H. (Richard Harvey), 1938-Field trips are a basic and important, yet often overlooked part of the student experience. They provide the opportunity to integrate real world knowledge with classroom learning and student previous personal experiences. Outdoor guided field trips leave students with an increased understanding, awareness and interest and in science. However, the benefits of this experience are ambiguous at best (Falk and Balling, 1982; Falk and Dierking, 1992; Kisiel, 2006. Students on an outdoor guided field trip to a local nature park experienced a significant increase in their understanding of the rock cycle. The changes in the pre-field trip test and the post-field trip test as well as their answers in interviews showed a profound change in the students’ understanding and in their interest in the subject matter. The use of the “student’s voice” (Bamberger and Tal, 2008) was the motivation for data analysis. By using the students’ voice, I was able to determine the mechanisms that might influence their understanding of a subject. The central concepts emerging from the data were: the outdoor setting; the students’ interest; the social interaction. From these central concepts, a conceptual model was developed. The outdoor setting allows for the freedom to explore, touch, smell and movement. This, in turn, leads to an increased interest in subject matter. As the students are exploring, they are enjoying themselves and become more open to learning. Interest leads to a desire to learn (Dewey, 1975). In addition to allowing the freedom to explore and move, the outdoor setting creates the condition for social interaction. The students talk to each other as they walk; they have in-depth discourse regarding the subject matter -- with the teachers, each other and with the guides. The guides have an extremely important role in the students’ learning. The more successful guides not only act as experts, but also adjust to the students’ needs and act or speak accordingly. The interconnections of these three concepts-- the outdoor setting, the students’ interest, the social interaction - worked to provide the mechanisms by which the students increased their understanding of the rock cycle.Item A study of the relationship between different types of autonomy support and student interest(2011-12) Lee, Ji-Eun, active 2013; Svinicki, Marilla D., 1946-; Schallert, Diane L.Representing one of the influential motivational variables on learning, interest includes both cognitive and affective components, arising from the interplay between an individual and a particular content and environment (Dewey, 1913; Hidi, Renninger, and Krapp, 2004). According to Hidi & Renninger (2004), interest can develop from situational to individual interest and be strengthened along with external support. On the basis of their propositions, this report explores how student interest may be intensified by enhancing cognitive facets of interest through the teacher’s instructional support. From the perspective of self-determination theory (SDT), support for autonomy as a contextual factor has been reported as a catalyst for student interest and engagement. In particular, Stefanou, Perencevich, DiCintio, and Turner (2004) stressed the importance of cognitive autonomy support as an instructional support in terms of deep-level thinking and cognitive engagement in comparison to other types of autonomy support such as by providing students choice in class. This report explores how different levels and types of student interest are associated with different types of autonomy support in an educational setting, focusing on cognitive aspects. Using a path analysis, this paper presents a full model to undergird a study of the direct and indirect relationships between student interest, different types of autonomy support, and cognitive engagement.