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Handbook of Research on Student Engagement pp 283–302Cite as

Students’ Interest and Engagement in Classroom Activities

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Abstract

This chapter focuses on interest as a key motivational construct for investigating the relation between motivation and engagement. The emphasis is on identifying the links between the underlying interest processes and students’ participation in achievement activities. It is suggested that a dynamic systems perspective with its emphasis on the individual as a self-organizing system provides a productive framework for future developments in understanding the sets of processes that support engagement. Central in this analysis will be an examination of the microprocess level to identify the process variables that combine in different patterns of student engagement. Addressing the relation between motivation and engagement at the microprocess level puts a major emphasis on the immediate context of the task and the broader classroom. However, these are nested within expanding contexts of school and community cultures, and the relation between interest processes and engagement in achievement activities will be considered within the framework of investigations into patterns of interest and engagement using data from the PISA 2006 international survey of science achievement.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, 3010, Australia

    Mary Ainley Ph.D.

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  1. Mary Ainley Ph.D.
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Correspondence to Mary Ainley Ph.D. .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Educational Psychology, University of Minnesota, E. River Road 56, Minneapolis, 55455, Minnesota, USA

    Sandra L. Christenson

  2. Dept. Educational Psychology &, Instructional Technology, University of Georgia, Aderhold Hall 325N, Athens, 30602, Georgia, USA

    Amy L. Reschly

  3. Educational Research, New Zealand Council for, Wellington, New Zealand

    Cathy Wylie

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Ainley, M. (2012). Students’ Interest and Engagement in Classroom Activities. In: Christenson, S., Reschly, A., Wylie, C. (eds) Handbook of Research on Student Engagement. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-2018-7_13

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