Interest in mathematics = interest in mathematics? What general measures of interest reflect when the object of interest changes

Emotions and motivation in mathematics education: theoretical considerations and empirical contributions

“…Interest is an important motivational construct that has recently gained considerable attention in mathematics education (Carmichael at al. 2017;Liebendörfer and Schukajlow 2017;Rellensmann and Schukajlow 2017;Ufer et al 2017). Interest represents a person-object relationship and is characterized by engagement and re-engagement with the content (Hidi and Renninger 2006;Krapp 2005).…”

Characterizing adolescents' interest in and out of school

“…Whereas experiencing interest in school has been associated with increased levels of motivation and achievement, research has repeatedly shown that adolescents often do not experience school as interesting (Shernoff, Csikszentmihaly, Schneider, & Shernoff, 2014;Larson & Richards 1991). This negative trend may be the result of focusing on describing the interests of the adolescent population as a whole (Krapp, 2000;2002;Krapp & Prenzel, 2011;Ufer, Rach, & Kosiol, 2017) as well as by questioning adolescents about predefined objects in school, typically in terms of school subjects like physics or chemistry or associated topics (Krapp, 2002 (Frenzel et al, 2010;Krapp, 2000;2002;Krapp & Prenzel, 2011;Ufer et al, 2017;Valsiner, 1992).…”

“…This thesis, however, has provided a more nuanced view by demonstrating that most adolescents do experience interest in specific (co)curricular contents offered by school (chapter 3 and 4), and that adolescents can experience connections with their out-of-school interests through their participation in school (chapter 4). Interest assessments typically measure averaged interest levels in predefined school-related objects like mathematics (Ufer et al, 2017), often with the result of finding a negative developmental trend. This thesis, however, has indicated that illuminating intraindividual processes helps to show the more subtle and qualitative differences in interest experiences within and across persons (Krapp, 2002).…”

“…Dergelijk onderzoek is echter vaak gefocust op specifieke interesses in specifieke contexten (bijv. wiskunde op school), en beschrijft de 'gemiddelde' interesse-ontwikkeling van adolescenten (Krapp, 2002;Ufer, Rach & Kosiol, 2017). Dat, terwijl er vanuit onderzoek met een sociaal-cultureel, ecologisch perspectief steeds meer belang wordt gehecht aan de eigenheid van interesse van individuen en de inbedding ervan in het dagelijks leven (Akkerman & Bakker, 2019;Azevedo, 2011;Barron, 2006;Nolen, 2019).…”

“…Yet, these findings were often the result of interest research building on cognitive-psychological theories, informing research and practice about average levels of interest in single, predefined objects of interest, often school-related (e.g. mathematics, chemistry; Krapp, 2002;Ufer, Rach, & Kosiol, 2017).…”