A COMPENDIUM OF SCALES for use in the SCHOLARSHIP OF TEACHING AND LEARNING

particular items. Indeed, a point of emphasis in the current chapter is that measures of student
engagement can be improved by being grounded in theoretical rationale.
Micro-Level Measures
Student Interest
Student engagement has been operationalized and measured in a variety of manners. We focus
the remainder of this chapter on several micro-level measures utilized in previous research to
assess student engagement, broadly defined. Student interest is one such manner in which
engagement toward college courses and material has been assessed.
13-Item Student Interest Measure
One useful measure of student interest is Harackiewicz, Barron, Tauer, Carter, and Elliott’s
(2000) 13-item measure. The items within this measure focus on interest toward a particular
class, the lectures within the class, and the professor teaching the class. This measure has some
overlap with a previous 7-item measure of student interest (Harackiewicz, Barron, Carter,
Lehto, & Elliot, 1997). However, this 13-item measure, unlike its predecessor (Harackiewicz et
al., 1997), differentiates between “catch” and “hold” interest factors. Catch interest factors
initially trigger student interest, and may consist of flashy Powerpoint slides, gripping examples,
or stimulating teaching methods that lead to initial class enjoyment. Three items assess catch
interest (α = .93), including “I don’t like the lectures very much (reverse-coded),” “The lectures
in this class seem to drag on forever (reverse-coded)”, and “I like my professor.” Hold interest
factors include course elements that maintain student interest over a sustained period of time
by activating intrinsic motivation (Harackiewicz et al., 2000). Ten items (α = .72) assess hold
interest, such as “I think the course material in this class is useful for me to learn” and “I think
the field of psychology is very interesting.” Participants respond to items using a 1 (strongly
disagree) to 7 (strongly agree) response range. The 3-item measure of catch interest is labeled
as Enjoyment, and the 10-item measure of hold interest is labeled as an Interest Scale
(Harackiewicz et al., 2000).
Interestingly, the hold measure of student interest (i.e., the Interest Scale) was a better
predictor of performance (i.e., learning) in classes and of the number of subsequent psychology
classes students took, suggesting that it might be an especially important dimension to
facilitate among students to promote learning outcomes. The catch and hold measures are
positively correlated (r = .58), but their operational definitions suggest that they are
conceptually distinct dimensions of student interest that should be treated as such in future
research (Harackiewicz et al., 2000). Psychometrically, it is important to note that the “catch”
interest scale only has three items, and like many other measures of student interest and
engagement, lacks proper validation. Future research should examine unique ways that catch
and hold interest predict student-related outcomes, as well as means by which they can be
obtained through teaching methods and other features of particular classes, keeping in mind
that the factors that enhance catch and hold interest may vary as a function class type subject
matter and level.
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