Interest, Prior Knowledge, and Learning

Abstract

This article discusses the importance of studying interest and reviews research on the association between interest and prior knowledge. It is concluded that there is a substantial linear relationship between interest and prior knowledge. Previous findings of minimal interest-knowledge relationships were attributed to one, or more, of the following: (a) Knowledge and interest measures reflecting different content, (b) questionable reliability or validity of the measures, (c) ideographic assignment to high/low groups introducing error into group assignments, (d) use of materials not suited to the sample, and (e) possible confounding of interest and knowledge measures. Research suggests that working on interesting, compared to neutral, materials may engage deeper cognitive processing, arouse a wider, more emotional, and more personal associative network, and employ more imagery. A model of the interest-knowledge relationship is updated, and suggestions for further research are made. Finally, the similarity between interest and curiosity is explored, and the advantages of research on these constructs are discussed.

Subjectivity, Learning and Work: Sources and Legacies

“…The knowledge used in planning was associated with dispositions and particular social practice. The sourcing found in this study strengthens claims of Perkins et al (1993b) about the role of dispositional attributes in thinking, and Tobias' (1994) view that dispositions such as interest underpin cognitive activity. Equally, evidence is provided that dispositional factors play a role in how individuals approach the problem-solving activities, through which they remake practice, whilst learning themselves.…”

“…Indeed, earlier accounts sought to integrate dispositions in frameworks and categories of knowledge (e.g. Perkins et al 1993a, b;Tobias 1994). Clearly, dispositions also influence whether individuals value a particular outcome enough to participate in the effortful activity required to secure the requisite knowledge.…”

“…The deliberations and contributions of cognitive theory have greatly assisted understanding the kinds of conceptual and procedural goals required for competent performance and how best instruction might proceed to assist individuals to secure these forms of knowledge. However, it has been acknowledged that the character of dispositions or dispositional knowledge and its implications for cognition, learning and instruction are less well understood and are underemphasised in this literature (Perkins et al 1993a, b;Tobias 1994). This gap in our understanding may well arise from difficulties associated with conceptualising and accessing this form of knowledge, because these dispositions are less easy to, respectively, declare or demonstrate than conceptual or procedural knowledge and are likely to be person-dependent to a high degree.…”

“…This view suggests that the potency of dispositions resides in the differences between what individuals may be capable of doing and what tasks they actually undertake and how they undertake them. Such perspective might look to issues of personal motivation (Hoffman 1986) or interest (Tobias 1994) or the press of social circumstances (Barker 1968;Pace and Stern 1958) to engage learners in realising their full capabilities. Yet, beyond this quality of enacting potential, there are perhaps more fundamental roles that dispositions play in shaping how individuals construe and construct what they experience and, therefore, think and act.…”

“…Which are the activities done only by the novice?). These activities included eliciting perceptions of the occupation practice of hairdressing by asking questions about the participants' perceptions and about how they think about and undertake their work, their likes, dislikes and preferences (Goodnow and Warton 1991;Tobias 1994); and asking questions about hairdressers' categorisations of clients, and how they undertake common daily tasks. Data about the work histories of the hairdressers was also gathered.…”