Abstracts - Earli

I 130 August 2007 14:30 - 16:30Room: HarmóniaSIG Invited SymposiumOn the dynamic interplay of motivation theory and researchmethodologyChair: Stuart Karabenick, University of Michigan, USAOrganiser: Marold Wosnitza, University Koblenz-Landau, RWTH Aachen, GermanyOrganiser: Stuart Karabenick, University of Michigan, USADiscussant: Anastasia Efklides, University of Thessaloniki, GreecePresenters in this symposium describe research methods and their associated theoreticalframeworks, how new methodology can open new ways to conceptualize phenomena, but mayalso constrain theoretical developments. Mary Ainley (University of Melbourne, Australia) willillustrate what on-line measurement has to offer when investigating the interconnections betweendynamic learning processes. Julianne C. Turner (University of Notre Dame, USA) questionswhether survey methodology is ill suited to study the motivation of people in relationships. PekkaSalonen, Marja Vaurus, and Riitta Kinnumen (University of Turku, Finland) describe instrumentsto tap the complexity of real-life, dynamic and socially embedded human motivation, emotion andlearning. And Simone Volet (Murdoch University, Australia) outlines methodological approachesto the study of motivational dynamics within and across socially challenging learning activities.Discussant Anastasia Efklides (University of Thessaloniki, Greece) will share her perspectives onthese emerging methodological trends.Investigating the interconnections between dynamic learning processes: What does on-linemeasurement offer?Mary Ainley, University of Melbourne, AustraliaInterest, efficacy, persistence, deep processing strategies, enjoyment, relief, are all connected witheffective learning. They are also among the range of processes that we have been able to measurein relation to students’ responses when working on problem tasks. The basic design behind oursoftware was to develop a tool for investigating the role of interest in learning by monitoring andrecording students’ on-task activity (Ainley & Hidi, 2002). Issues dealing with relationshipsbetween interest and other motivational constructs, with how interest processes influence learningand achievement, and with relationships between individual and situational interest are some of thespecific questions that guided the software development (Ainley & Ainley, 2006). A major featureof this methodology is the potential for monitoring a wide range of process indicatorssimultaneously. It is the richness of the data set generated that is both different and complementaryto other techniques. In this presentation we will describe something a range of current findings. Atthe level of a single task the interconnectedness of specific task variables have been modeled.Interest, efficacy, difficulty, affect, strategic processing in note-taking behavior, and the quality ofperformance on the writing tasks are some of the variables we have monitored to examine what ishappening when students engage with learning. Expectancy, experience, and reflection form anatural sequence for these analyses. When the same group of students completes a number ofrelated tasks separated in time, patterns of change in on-task processes related to both personal andtask factors have been identified. The same basic methodology using grade appropriate problem– 473 –