Development and Validation of the Student Interest and Engagement Scales

A series of studies report the development of empirically derived instruments that measure student interest and engagement. The first study inductively develops an initial item pool through open-ended questionnaire data. A second study subjects the measures to exploratory factor analysis to ascertain an underlying factor structure. The third study deductively tests the measures through confirmatory factor analysis and examines associations among teacher communication behaviors, student emotional and cognitive interest, and engagement. A fourth study offers discriminant validity evidence, suggesting that the new measures are distinct from scales that assess similar yet divergent constructs. Guided by prior theory (Mottet, Frymier, & Beebe, 2006) and research (Harp & Mayer, 1997), the instruments developed here possess heuristic potential for instructional communication research. Implications and areas for future research are discussed.

[1]  J. F. Herbart,et al.  Allgemeine Pädagogik aus dem Zweck der Erziehung abgeleitet , 1885 .

[2]  B. Titsworth,et al.  The effects of teacher immediacy, use of organizational lecture cues, and students’ notetaking on cognitive learning , 2001 .

[3]  Cheri J. Simonds,et al.  The Effects of Teacher Clarity, Nonverbal Immediacy, and Caring on Student Motivation, Affective and Cognitive Learning , 2007 .

[4]  Teresa M. Harrison,et al.  Conceptualizing and assessing organizational image: Model images, commitment, and communication , 1994 .

[5]  Marian L. Houser,et al.  The revised learning indicators scale , 1999 .

[6]  B. Bloom,et al.  Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. Handbook I: Cognitive Domain , 1966 .

[7]  J. Piaget,et al.  Intelligence and Affectivity: Their Relationship During Child Development , 1981 .

[8]  B. Titsworth,et al.  Immediate and delayed effects of interest cues and engagement cues on students' affective learning , 2001 .

[9]  S. Tobias.  Interest, Prior Knowledge, and Learning , 1994 .

[10]  Joseph P. Mazer,et al.  Emotion in Teaching and Learning: Development and Validation of the Classroom Emotions Scale , 2010 .

[11]  Ann Bainbridge Frymier.  The relationships among communication apprehension, immediacy and motivation to study , 1993 .

[12]  Lisa Bomia,et al.  The Impact of Teaching Strategies on Intrinsic Motivation. , 1997 .

[13]  E. Deci.  The relation of interest to the motivation of behavior: A self-determination theory perspective. , 1992 .

[14]  Patricia Kearney,et al.  Clarifying the relationship between teacher nonverbal immediacy and student cognitive learning: Affective learning as the central causal mediator , 1996 .

[15]  J. Connell,et al.  Competence, autonomy, and relatedness: A motivational analysis of self-system processes. , 1991 .

[16]  B. Titsworth.  Students' notetaking: the effects of teacher immediacy and clarity , 2004 .

[17]  T. Kindermann,et al.  Engagement and Disaffection in the Classroom: Part of a Larger Motivational Dynamic? , 2008 .

[18]  John W. Creswell,et al.  Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches , 2010 .

[19]  K. Miller,et al.  Compassionate Communication in the Workplace: Exploring Processes of Noticing, Connecting, and Responding , 2007 .

[20]  D. Butts,et al.  The relationship among teacher classroom management behavior, student engagement, and student achievement of middle and high school science students of varying aptitude , 1984 .

[21]  S. Myers,et al.  Perceived Instructor In-class Communicative Behaviors As a Predictor of Student Participation in Out of Class Communication , 2005 .

[22]  Joseph L. Chesebro.  Effects of Teacher Clarity and Nonverbal Immediacy on Student Learning, Receiver Apprehension, and Affect , 2003 .

[23]  J. Mccroskey,et al.  Development of the nonverbal immediacy scale (NIS): Measures of self‐and other‐perceived nonverbal immediacy , 2003 .

[24]  Alan K. Goodboy,et al.  The Development and Validation of the Student Communication Satisfaction Scale , 2009 .

[25]  Kimberly A. Neuendorf,et al.  The Content Analysis Guidebook , 2001 .

[26]  J. Mccroskey,et al.  THE USE AND ABUSE OF FACTOR ANALYSIS IN COMMUNICATION RESEARCH , 1979 .

[27]  A. Mehrabian.  Silent Messages: Implicit Communication of Emotions and Attitudes , 1971 .

[28]  Paul Schrodt,et al.  Instructor Credibility as a Mediator of Instructors’ Prosocial Communication Behaviors and Students’ Learning Outcomes , 2009 .

[29]  Joan M. Fayer,et al.  Nonverbal immediacy and cognitive learning: A cross‐cultural investigation , 1996 .

[30]  Suzanne Hidi,et al.  Strategies for increasing text-based interest and students' recall of expository texts. , 1988 .

[31]  S. Myers.  Using the Perry Scheme to Explore College Student Classroom Participation , 2010 .

[32]  Cheri J. Simonds.  Classroom understanding: An expanded notion of teacher clarity , 1997 .

[33]  Diane M. Christophel.  The relationships among teacher immediacy behaviors, student motivation, and learning , 1990 .

[34]  John G. Oetzel,et al.  Exploring the dimensions of organizational assimilation: Creating and validating a measure , 2003 .

[35]  Andrew M. Ledbetter.  Measuring Online Communication Attitude: Instrument Development and Validation , 2009 .

[36]  J. Dewey,et al.  Interest and Effort in Education , 1975 .

[37]  Virginia P. Richmond,et al.  Power in the classroom VII: Linking behavior alteration techniques to cognitive learning , 1987 .

[38]  Keith Weber,et al.  Student interest: A two-study re-examination of the concept , 2005 .

[39]  K. Ann Renninger,et al.  Interest, Learning and Development , 1992 .

[40]  S. Hidi,et al.  The Role Of Interest In Learning And Development , 1994 .

[41]  K. Ann Renninger,et al.  Individual interest and development: Implications for theory and practice. , 1992 .

[42]  Tapabrata Maiti,et al.  Principles and Practice of Structural Equation Modeling (2nd ed.) , 2006 .

[43]  Blair Thompson,et al.  College Student Ratings of Student Academic Support: Frequency, Importance, and Modes of Communication , 2009 .

[44]  Lawrence R. Wheeless,et al.  An experimental study of teachers’ verbal and nonverbal immediacy and students’ affective and cognitive learning , 2001 .

[45]  Robert F. DeVellis,et al.  Scale Development: Theory and Applications. , 1992 .

[46]  M. Gläser-Zikuda,et al.  Impact of teacher competencies on student emotions: A multi-method approach , 2008 .

[47]  S. Thompson.  Social Learning Theory , 2008 .

[48]  W. Owen.  Interpretive themes in relational communication , 1984 .

[49]  Ulrich Schiefele,et al.  Interest, Learning, and Motivation , 1991 .

[50]  B. Judd,et al.  Communication apprehension, nonverbal immediacy, and negative expectations for learning , 1996 .

[51]  Keith Weber.  The relationship of interest to internal and external motivation , 2003 .

[52]  Virginia P. Richmond,et al.  Power in the classroom VI: Verbal control strategies, nonverbal immediacy and affective learning , 1986 .

[53]  Anita L. Vangelisti,et al.  Family Portraits: Stories As Standards for Family Relationships , 1999 .

[54]  Thomas M. Smith,et al.  The Condition of education , 1975 .

[55]  K. Ann Renninger,et al.  Situational interest and its impact on reading and expository writing. , 1992 .

[56]  Andrew J. Bush,et al.  An Empirical Investigation of Teacher Clarity , 1977 .

[57]  A. M. White.  The Process of Education , 1994 .

[58]  Susanne M. Jones,et al.  How Does the Comforting Process Work? An Empirical Test of an Appraisal-Based Model of Comforting , 2006 .

[59]  H. Carmack.  Medicine as Culture: Illness, Disease, and the Body in Western Societies , 2006 .

[60]  R. Mayer,et al.  The Role of Interest in Learning From Scientific Text and Illustrations: On the Distinction Between Emotional Interest and Cognitive Interest , 1997 .

[61]  Lawrence R. Wheeless,et al.  A meta‐analytical review of the relationship between teacher immediacy and student learning , 2004 .

[62]  Earl R. Babbie,et al.  The basics of communication research , 2012 .

[63]  J. F. Andersen.  Teacher Immediacy as a Predictor of Teaching Effectiveness , 1979 .

[64]  C. Greenwood,et al.  Longitudinal Analysis of Time, Engagement, and Achievement in At-Risk versus Non-Risk Students , 1991, Exceptional children.

[65]  J. Comstock,et al.  Food for thought: Teacher nonverbal immediacy, student learning, and curvilinearity , 1995 .

[66]  J. Horn.  A rationale and test for the number of factors in factor analysis , 1965, Psychometrika.

[67]  D. Campbell,et al.  Convergent and discriminant validation by the multitrait-multimethod matrix. , 1959, Psychological bulletin.

[68]  Marian L. Houser,et al.  The development of a learner empowerment measure 1 , 1996 .

[69]  Ann Bainbridge Frymier.  A model of immediacy in the classroom , 1994 .

[70]  R. Kline.  Principles and practice of structural equation modeling, 2nd ed. , 2005 .

[71]  Virginia P. Richmond,et al.  The Relationship Between Selected Immediacy Behaviors and Cognitive Learning , 1987 .

[72]  J. Dewey.  Democracy and education : an introduction to the philosophy of education , 1961 .

[73]  J. Brophy,et al.  Conceptualizing student motivation , 1983 .

[74]  James Mark Baldwin,et al.  Thought and things : a study of the development and meaning of thought or genetic logic , 1913 .

[75]  R. MacCallum,et al.  Power analysis and determination of sample size for covariance structure modeling. , 1996 .

[76]  Keith Weber,et al.  The relationship between student interest and teacher's use of behavior alteration techniques , 2004 .

[77]  Mike Allen,et al.  Meta-Analysis of the Relationship between Communication Apprehension and Cognitive Performance. , 1992 .

[78]  Lorraine McCune-Nicolich,et al.  Educational psychology for teachers , 1980 .

[79]  D. Berlyne.  Conflict, arousal, and curiosity , 2014 .

[80]  David de Vaus,et al.  Research Design in Social Research , 2001 .

[81]  Rex B. Kline,et al.  Principles and Practice of Structural Equation Modeling , 1998 .