The purpose of this study was to identify the characteristics of common elementary music class activities that elicit situational interest, the short-term interest that emerges spontaneously in learners when faced with environmental factors in an educational experience. An instrumental case study approach was employed, with 24 fourth-grade children serving as participants, at a school in which the researcher was the music teacher. Over a 4-month period of engagement, data were gathered through small-group interviews, writing experiences, one-item surveys, videotaped observations of class periods, and examination of material culture. Analysis based on open and focused coding processes revealed that lessons containing elements of novelty, kinesthetic activity, self-efficacy, challenge, and creativity led to increased situational interest. Incorporating these themes into music classroom activities may be a way to enhance children’s interest in the experiences, leading to more increased engagement and improved performance outcomes.
AbrilC. (2007). I have a voice but I just can’t sing: A narrative investigation of singing and social anxiety. Music Education Research, 9, 1–15. doi:10.1080/14613800601127494.
2.
AinleyM.HidiS.BerndorffD. (2002). Interest, learning, and the psychological processes that mediate their relationship. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94, 545–561. doi:10.1037/0022-0663.94.3.545
3.
AinleyM.HillmanK.HidiS. (2002). Gender and interest processes in response to literary texts: Situational and individual interest. Learning and Instruction, 12, 411–428. doi:10.1016/S0959-4752(01)0008-1
4.
AustinJ.RenwickJ. M.McPhersonG. E. (2006). Developing motivation. In McPhersonG. E. (Ed.), The child as musician: A handbook of musical development (pp. 213–238). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
5.
BarrettM. S.SmigielH. M. (2007). Children’s perspectives on participation in music youth arts settings: Meaning, value and participation. Research Studies in Music Education, 28, 39–50. doi:10.1177/1321103X070280010204
6.
BartolomeS. (2013). “It’s like a whole bunch of me!” The perceived values and benefits of the Seattle Girls’ Choir experience. Journal of Research in Music Education, 60, 395–418. doi:10.1177/0022429412464054
BowlesC. (1998). Music activity preferences of elementary students. Journal of Research in Music Education, 46, 193–207. doi:10.2307/3345623
9.
CampbellP. S. (2010). Songs in their heads (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
10.
CampbellP. S.Scott-KassnerC. (2010). Music in childhood (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Schirmer.
11.
ChenA.DarstP. (2002). Individual and situational interest: The role of gender and skill. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 27, 250–269. doi:10.1006/ceps.2001.1093
12.
ChenA.DarstP. W.PangraziR. P. (1999). What constitutes situational interest? Validating a construct in physical education. Measurement in Physical Education and Exercise Science, 3, 157–180. doi:10.1207/s15327841mpee0303_3
13.
ChenA.DarstP. W.PangraziR. P. (2001). An examination of situational interest and its sources. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 71, 383–400.
14.
CreswellJ. W. (2013). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (3rd ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Sage.
15.
CsikszentmihalyiM. (1975). Beyond boredom and anxiety: The experience of play in work and games. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
16.
DohnN. B. (2011). Situational interest of high school students who visit an aquarium. Science Education, 95, 337–357. doi:10.1002/sce.20425
17.
DohnN. B.MadsenP.MalteH. (2009). The situational interest of undergraduate students in zoophysiology. Advances in Physiology Education, 33, 196–201. doi:10.1152/advan.00038.2009
18.
DurikA.HarackiewiczJ. (2007). Different strokes for different folks: How individual interest moderates the effects of situational factors on task interest. Journal of Educational Psychology, 99, 597–610. doi:10.1037/0022-0663.99.3.597
19.
EmersonR.FretzR.ShawL. (2011). Writing ethnographic fieldnotes (2nd ed.). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
20.
FontanaA.FreyJ. (2005). The interview: From neutral stance to political involvement. In DenzinN.LincolnY. (Eds.), The Sage book of qualitative research (pp. 695–728). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
FrenzelA. C.PekrunR.DickeA.-L.GoetzT. (2012). Beyond quantitative decline: Conceptual shifts in adolescents’ development of interest in mathematics. Developmental Psychology, 48, 1069–1082. doi:10.1037/a0026895
23.
HamlenK. R.ShuellT. J. (2006). The effects of familiarity and audiovisual stimuli on preference for classical music. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 168, 21–34. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/40319458
24.
HarackiewiczJ.BarronK.TauerJ.ElliotA. (2002). Predicting success in college: A longitudinal study of achievement goal measures as predictors of interest and performance from freshman year through graduation. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94, 562–575. doi:10.1037/0022-0663.94.3.562
25.
HidiS.RenningerK. A. (2006). The four-phase model of interest development. Educational Psychologist, 41, 111–127. doi:10.1207/s15326985ep4102_4
26.
HolmesR. M. (1998). Fieldwork with children. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
27.
Iran-NejadA. (1987). Cognitive and affective causes of interest and liking. Journal of Educational Psychology, 79, 120–130. doi:10.1037/0022-0663.79.2.120
28.
JohnstoneT.SchererK. R. (2000). Vocal communication of emotion. In LewisM.Haviland-JonesJ. (Eds.), Handbook of emotions (2nd ed., pp. 220–235). New York, NY: Guilford.
McDanielM. A.WaddillP. J.FinstadK.BourgT. (2000). The effects of text-based interest on attention and recall. Journal of Educational Psychology, 92, 492–502. doi:10.1037/0022-0663.92.3.492
31.
MitchellM. (1993). Situational interest: Its multifaceted structure in the secondary school mathematics classroom. Journal of Educational Psychology, 85, 424–436. doi:10.1037/0022-0663.85.3.424
32.
MizenerC. P. (1993). Attitudes of children toward singing and choir participation and assessed singing skill. Journal of Research in Music Education, 41, 233–245. doi:10.2307/3345327
33.
MurphyM. K.BrownT. S. (1986). A comparison of preferences for instructional objectives between teachers and students. Journal of Research in Music Education, 34, 134–139. doi:10.2307/3344741
34.
NolenS. (2007). The role of literate communities in the development of children’s interest in writing. In HidiS.BoscoloP. (Eds.), Writing and motivation (pp. 238–253). Oxford, UK: Elsevier.
35.
PalmerD. (2004). Situational interest and the attitudes towards science of primary teacher education students. International Journal of Science Education, 26, 895–908. doi:10.1080/0950069032000177262
36.
PalmerD. (2009). Student interest generated during an inquiry skills lesson. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 46, 147–165. doi:10.1002/tea.20263
37.
ParisS. G.YamborK. M.PackardB. W. (1998). Hands-on biology: A museum-school-university partnership for enhancing students’ interest and learning in science. Elementary School Journal, 98, 267–288. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1002260
38.
PortelliJ. (2008). Researching a secondary school in Malta. In SikesP.PottsA. (Eds.), Researching education from the inside: Investigations from within (pp. 80–94). London, UK: Routledge.
39.
Pressick-KilbornK.WalkerR. (2002). The social construction of interest in a learning community. In McInerneyD. M.Van EttenS. (Eds.), Research on socio-cultural influences on motivation and learning (Vol. 2, pp. 153–182). Greenwich, CT: JAI.
40.
ReeveJ.NixG. (1997). Expressing intrinsic motivation through acts of exploration and facial displays of interest. Motivation and Emotion, 21, 237–250. doi:10.1023/A:1024470213500
41.
RenningerK. A.HidiS. (2002). Student interest and achievement: Developmental issues. In WigfieldA.EcclesJ. (Eds.), Development of achievement motivation (pp. 173–195). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
42.
RenwickJ. M.McPhersonG. E. (2002). Interest and choice: Student-selected repertoire and its effect on practicing behavior. British Journal of Music Education, 19, 173–188. doi:10.1017/S0265051702000256
43.
RobsonC. (2002). Real world research: A resource for social scientists and practitioner-researchers. Madden, MA: Blackwell.
44.
RotgansJ. I.SchmidtH. G. (2011). Situational interest and academic achievement in the active learning classroom. Learning and Instruction, 21, 58–67. doi:10.1016/j.learninstruc.2008.11.001
45.
SchrawG.BruningR.SvobodaC. (1995). Sources of situational interest. Journal of Reading Behavior, 27, 1–17.
46.
SchrawG.FlowerdayT.LehmanS. (2001). Increasing situational interest in the classroom. Educational Psychology Review, 13, 211–224. doi:10.1080/10862969509547866
47.
SiebenalerD. J. (1999). Student song preference in the elementary music class. Journal of Research in Music Education, 47, 213–223. doi:10.2307/3345780
48.
SpradleyJ. P. (1979). The ethnographic interview. New York, NY: Holt, Reinhardt, and Winston.
49.
StakeR. E. (2005). Qualitative case studies. In DenzinN.LincolnY. (Eds.), The Sage handbook of qualitative research (3rd ed., pp. 443–466). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
50.
SwaratS.OrtonyA.RevelleW. (2012). Activity matters: Understanding student interest in school science. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 49, 515–537. doi:10.1002/tea.21010
51.
TemmermanN. (2000). An investigation into the music activity preferences of pre-school children. British Journal of Music Education, 17, 51–60.
52.
TilleyC. (2006). Introduction. In TilleyC.KeaneW.Kuechler-FogdenS.RowlandsM.SpyerP. (Eds.), Handbook of material culture (pp. 1–6). London, UK: Sage.
53.
WynessM. (2006). Childhood and society: An introduction to the sociology of childhood. Houndsmills, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
