Die bedeutung des motivationsrelevanten erlebens und des individuellen fachinteresses für das situationale interesse im mathematikunterricht

The present study analyses preconditions and different manifestations of content-related motivational processes during school lessons based on the theoretical concept of situational interest. Within this framework, two developmental phases are distinguished: the first appearance of situational interest (SI-Catch) and a constitutive, stabilized situational interest (SI-Hold). The present contribution investigates the importance of the emotional experiences of autonomy, competence, and relatedness for both developmental phases and the relevance of an individual subject-related interest for situational interest. For that purpose, N=951 8th grade students from 38 classes were surveyed immediately after a math lesson. The obtained results indicate that the function of the emotional experiences varies depending on the different developmental phases of the situational interest. The subject-related interest proves to be a meaningful predictor of both phases of situational interest.