• short-term

• external support 

  • via the environment or text

• strategies

  • integrate group work, puzzles, and computers/technology 

CAUSES:

1. Environmental or Text Features:

   1. This phase can be triggered by incongruous, surprising information, personal relevance, or intensity of the learning material. When students encounter these features, they are more likely to become curious and interested in the subject matter

2. External Support:

   1. Triggered situational interest is often externally supported by instructional conditions or learning environment. Examples of this could be seen in group work, puzzles, and/or technology-based learning.

• extended episodes & persistence 

  • more personal involvement in meaningful tasks

• external support

  • still via the environment, prompting, text, etc.

• strategies

  • meaningful and personally involved activities such as project-based learning, collaborative group work, or one-on-one tutoring

CAUSES:

1. Meaningfulness and Personal Involvement: 

   1. Maintained situational interest is maintained through meaningful tasks and personal involvement. When learners perceive tasks as being relevant to themselves, goals, and/or interests, they are more likely to stay engaged and continue learning.

2. External Support 

   1. External support, similar to the triggered phase, plays a role in maintaining interest. Instructional conditions that provide meaningful and personally involving activities (such as project-based learning or one-on-one tutoring) can contribute to interest persistence.

• more long-term and sustained

• internal support

  • positive feelings & motivation

  • curiosity

  • self-management and resourcefulness

  • (still requires some external support via peers, experts, teachers, etc.)

• strategies

  • provide challenges, opportunities, and support to students in their interests

CAUSES:

1. Positive Feelings and Stored Knowledge:

   1. Learners begin to value the learning material due to their own invested curiosity rather than outside influence.

2. Self-Generated Curiosity

   1. Learners begin to ask their own questions about the material, driving their own independent exploration and learning. This curiosity in particular is a significant cause of a learner’s continued interest.

• long-term

• internal support - MORE stable and strong

  • positive feelings & motivation & stored value

  • opt to pursue interest given the choice

  • (may still benefit from external support for resources to support learning and exploration via models, peers, experts, etc.)

• generative

  • seek out questions & answers

  • self-management & resourceful

  • constructive and creative

• strategies

  • essentially the same as Phase 3 - provide many challenges, opportunities, and facilitate interactions and discussions to connect and build knowledge

CAUSES:

1. Positive Feelings and Extensive Knowledge:

   1. Learners in this phase have a deep store of knowledge and strong attachment/feelings about the subject, highly valuing opportunities to reengage with the various tasks related to their interests.

2. Self-Generated Curiosity and Resourcefulness:

   1. Individuals self-generate curiosity, creating a loop of searching and discovery. With each answer found, a new question takes its place. This drives them to continue on the content with little to no outside influences required.

3. External and Peer Support:

   1. While primarily self-generated, phase 4 may still find benefit from external support such as peers and/or experts one can bounce ideas off of, compete against, overcome difficulties in learning with, etc.