The development of situational interest during a digital mathematics game
Abstract
The present study focused on 212 fifth graders' situational interest trajectories during an intervention with a digital mathematics game called Number Navigation. Our aims were to explore the development of situational interest whilst playing the game and to investigate the relationship between situational interest and individual math interest. Growth mixture model analyses showed that in the whole sample situational interest was stable within sessions but decreased across sessions. Three different situational interest trajectories were found. Situational interest trajectories were predicted by pre‐test individual interest. In turn, situational interest had an effect on post‐test individual interest. Students whose situational interest trajectories were stable (either high or low) presented no changes in individual interest, yet the individual interest of students whose situational interest was triggered but not maintained markedly decreased from pre‐test to post‐test. Results suggest that it is important to use game‐based learning not because games are believed to be “motivating”; rather, games with proven learning outcomes should be carefully selected.
Lay Description
What is already known about this topic:
- Interest in mathematics decreases throughout the school years, indicating a need for more engaging teaching methods.
- It is generally believed that game‐based learning motivates students in curricular content, but there is a lack of empirical data to substantiate this belief.
- Certain task characteristics can trigger situational interest, but only maintained situational interest supports development of individual interest.
- Pre‐existing individual interest can also predict situational interest.
What this paper adds:
- Game‐based learning will not be unequivocally motivating for all students (there are different interest trajectories), though it seems to be for the majority.
- High prior individual mathematics interest seems to predict high and maintained situational interest during the game play.
- High and maintained situational interest seems to result in high individual mathematics interest also after the game period, whereas triggered and not maintained situational interest can result in a strong decrease in students' later individual mathematics interest.
- Regardless of the initial individual interest, situational interest can be triggered, but when the initial individual interest is low, it is more challenging to maintain the situational interest.
- If situational interest is initially triggered but soon decreases, this can have negative long‐term effects on the individual interest towards the subject.
Implications for practice and/or policy:
- Game‐based learning in mathematics will not be unequivocally motivating for all students, though it seems to be motivating for majority of pupils.
- Game‐based learning in mathematics seems to fit best for pupils with high prior individual interest in mathematics.
- Efforts should be made to discover how to maintain situational interest of those whose situational interest is triggered but not maintained, because drop in situational interest during game play can have negative long‐term effects on the individual interest.
Number of times cited: 1
- Boglárka Brezovszky, Jake McMullen, Koen Veermans, Minna M. Hannula-Sormunen, Gabriela Rodríguez-Aflecht, Nonmanut Pongsakdi, Eero Laakkonen and Erno Lehtinen, Effects of a mathematics game-based learning environment on primary school students' adaptive number knowledge, Computers & Education, 10.1016/j.compedu.2018.09.011, 128, (63-74), (2019).
