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Részletek

Exploring Interest Theory, its Relation to Other Motivational Variables, and the Brain

Drawing on our research program as well as those of investigators from a wide-range of fields,  seventeen years ago, Ann Renniger and I published our Four Phase Model of Interest Development (Hidi and Renninger, 2006). Since then, the model has been widely used as a conceptual framework for research on interest development and engagement The article (with over 5,000 citations)  seemed to have reinvigorated both researchers' and practitioners' understanding of the critical role of interest - an affective and cognitive motivational variable that  can be supported to develop - in education. In my talk, I will introduce empirical findings that contributed to establishing  the existence of the four phases, and describe their distinct characteristics. Subsequently, I will discuss how interest is related to curiosity, goals, self-efficacy and self-regulation, as well as consider the role of rewards in engagement and learning. Finally, I will argue that interest is a unique motivational variable because it has biological roots, and point to the importance of linking neuroscientific research - such as investigations dealing with intrinsic rewards,  and self-related information processing - and educational/social psychology perspectives

Short Bio

Suzanne Hidi earned her Ph.D. in educational psychology at the University of Toronto where she is currently an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology and Human Development.  She is internationally recognized for her work that addresses multiple sites of learning and instruction. She is the recipient of the 2022 Sylvia Scribner award that is given by the American Educational Research Association in recognition of a program of work that has significantly influenced thinking and research in the field of learning and instruction.

Her numerous publications that resulted in over 28,000 Google Scholar Citations, deal with a variety of educational issues such as academic writing, the importance of motivation in general, and interest in specific, as well as with the role of rewards in engagement and performance.

Recently, Hidi has been studying the links between neuroscientific research findings and educational/social psychology, focusing on how brain functioning can explain reward processes, the distinction between curiosity versus interest, and the unique motivating power of interest. She  co-edited, as well as, contributed to the state-of-the art Cambridge Handbook Of Motivation and Learning (Renninger & Hidi, 2019). This 30-chapter volume highlights synergies of perspectives from an international group of educational, social, and developmental psychologists, learning scientists and neuroscientists.  One especially important aspect of Hidi's work is the demonstration of the universal role that interest plays in the motivation and learning for individuals, regardless of their age, race, or social class. 

Click here to download the invitation card.