Interest, motivation and learning: An educational-psychological perspective

Within the last few years, researchers have shown a renewed interest in "in terest': Especially in the field of educational psychology many studies hav e been conducted to analyze how learning and achievement are influenced by motivational and cognitive factors, which are connected with individual and /or situational interests. In this paper, results from empirical research w ill be presented besides theoretical considerations concerning the interest -construct. Interest has typically been studied as an independent variable. Dependent variables have been either some aspects of learning outcome (kno wledge structure, academic achievement) or hypothetical mediators, which pr obably can be used to explain the interest effects (e.g., learning strategi es, attention, emotional experiences). There is also a growing number of st udies which try to explore the conditions of interest development,within ed ucational settings. Future lines of research will be discussed in light of the demands of educational theory and practice.