Abstracts - Earli

the phases while different tools, i.e., co-located tools can be fruitful i.e. tools where contributionsare physically located by relating the screen of each learner to others’ screens.C 2429 August 2007 08:30 - 10:30Room: 0.100BSymposiumConsequences of perspectives on the future for student’s functioningChair: Thea Peetsma, Universiteit van Amsterdam, NetherlandsOrganiser: Thea Peetsma, Universiteit van Amsterdam, NetherlandsDiscussant: Stuart Karabenick, University of Michigan, USAStudents differ in their perspectives or orientations on the future and in the degree they keep inmind the consequences of their functioning now for their future. The concept of future timeperspective is generally described as a conceptualization of a particular life domain in terms oftime. It is characterized by ‘extension’ and ‘valence’, which means mainly the subjective extensionmore than the objective (see e.g. Gjesme, 1975; Lens, 1986). Nuttin & Lens (1985) defined futuretime perspective as the mental perception of future events, or the anticipation in the present offuture events. This includes two aspects: a dynamic one, regarding the incentive value of anobjective, or an individual’s disposition to value goals in the future; and a cognitive one, that is theperception of the utility of a behaviour in the future. The cognitive aspect has been operationalizedas perceived instrumentality, that is an individual’s comprehension of the future value of a presentbehaviour. Future time perspective is mainly characterized as being cognitive in nature, but inother definitions the concept comprises affective components as well (Peetsma, 2000). Students’time perspectives proved to be good predictors of their learning behaviour, but other studentbehaviours, like their social functioning, seem to be influenced by the time orientation as well. Inthe four presentations different use of the time concept will be shown: instrumentality for thefuture and interest, future time perspectives, and a trait-like time orientation. These concepts havebeen subject of research with university students in Italy and the USA, students from the lowesttype of secondary education in the Netherlands, students from a special class, and correctionalinstitute in Norway. Both students’ learning behaviour and social functioning proved to be relatedto time perspectives and orientation.Psychology students’ interest in subject-matters and perceived instrumentality: What relationship?Pietro Boscolo, University of Padova, ItalyLaura Del Favero, University of Padova, ItalyThe study to be presented is aimed at analyzing the relationship between interest in subject-mattersand perceived instrumentality of Psychology students in two different moments of theircurriculum. Recent studies in future time perspective have investigated the relationships ofperceived instrumentality of school activities and disciplines, on the one hand, and variousmotivational variables, on the other, such as goal orientations, school investment, self-regulation,delay of gratification, and persistence in study. However, few studies have considered students’individual interest in a discipline among these variables. We posed two main research questions:How is interest in a subject-matter related to perceived instrumentality? What is the role of stored– 183 –