A Learning Theory Approach to Interest

Abstract

Recognizing the importance of student interest is probably as old as the conscious organization of learning. Despite the long history of research, the question of interest is undoubtedly still a relevant problem today, and the struggle to develop interest is made more difficult by unprecedented changes in the learning environment in the broad sense. The “didactic task” of arousing interest often arises as a methodological problem from both a theoretical and a practical point of view: it is interpreted as a part of “teaching”, i.e. it appears as an activity that must be carried out primarily by the teacher. This paper, which is formulated within the theoretical and terminological framework of the constructivist learning theory, attempts to interpret the concept of interest in the context of learning theory, and transfer the development of interest to the field of “learning” instead of "teaching". This emphasizes the importance of student activity instead of teacher activities. We argue that interest can be defined as knowledge (it is part of the learner’s prior knowledge) and as a result of prior knowledge. In this context, we interpret the development of interest as learning, i.e. as the student's active construction of knowledge. Drawing the conclusion, we propose to discuss the complex problematic of interest in the context of student autonomy instead of a methodological approach.