On the Relationship Between Interests and Learning: Lessons From/for Research

• In Event: 41.023 - Exploring Links Between Interest and Learning

Abstract

Objectives and Framework
The relationship between a person’s interests—short- (situational or emergent) and long-term (individual) (Renninger & Hidi, 2016)—and his/her learning is usually assumed to be a “positive” and directly causal one. Put simply, the more a person is interested in an ongoing activity (e.g., a classroom dissection or museum exhibit demonstration), the more he/she will learn about the many facets (e.g., content and procedures) of such an activity. Pragmatically, then, as designers of learning experiences we attempt to trigger and sustain interests so that a person can both better learn and develop enduring dispositions for target subject domains/topics.

Here it is argued that this basic picture of the relationship between interests and learning needs significant detailing if we are to grasp the reflexive and dynamic character of interests and learning (Barron, 2006).

The research is aligned with socio-cultural perspectives on learning (Lave & Wenger, 1991) in that it frames interest-based participation in a practice as emerging from the ongoing transactions between the person and the larger social, cultural, institutional, and material contexts across which the person pursues his/her interests. Simultaneously, because interests vary widely across people, the framing seeks to account for individual variation within a common socio-cultural “substrate” of interest-based pursuits (Azevedo, 2011; Barron, 2006).

Data Sources and Methods
Data are video records (> 20 hours) and field notes collected in two distinct research projects—one focused on a STEM-based, ethnically diverse (White, African American, Asian American, Latino; 50% female) after-school program and the other on people’s (White adults, varying ages) extended participation in STEM hobbies (model rocketry and amateur astronomy). Data were collected in ethnographic manner and analyses of those materials have included a mix of qualitative methods, including extended case comparisons and phenomenological analyses (for details, see Azevedo, 2006, 2011, 2013; diSessa & Sherin, 2000).

Results and Significance
Findings suggest that the relationship between interests and learning is not “linear.” For instance, an oldtimer amateur astronomer may specialize in particular aspects of observational astronomy and learn much about such topics. Simultaneously, he/she might rely on others for knowledge that is relevant, yet beyond his/her immediate grasp. In this sense, knowing and learning may be “off loaded,” pointing to the complexities of interest-driven pursuits.

Similarly, the pace of learning varies widely across individuals. Interest-driven pursuits may often privilege the quality of lived experiences, rather than immediate learning or performance gains. As such, learning and knowing (as in competently participating in a practice) vary tremendously across individuals, whether in hobby fields or after-school programs.

Based on these observations, it is suggested that we further investigate such issues as (1) The dynamics of interest-driven participation (when and how does one truly learn when in interest-based pursuits?); (2) Continuities and discontinuities across timescales of interest-based participation (or how do interests develop and what’s the role of learning in that process?); and (3) The development of well-developed interests (i.e., expert models of interest development can be enlightening).

Author

• Flavio S. Azevedo, Dept. of Curriculum and Instruction