Meaningful choice about learning tasks increases interest, but only under boundary conditions¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · theoretical r3 · q2
Currency · newest study 2013 · checked against its sources 2026-10-19 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Providing meaningful choice can increase interest, though the effect may be limited to students who already have good interest and situations with sufficient prior knowledge about the choices. → Belland Brian R. 2013

Evidence¶

Belland Brian R. 2013¶

Belland Brian R., Kim ChanMin, Hannafin Michael J. (2013). A Framework for Designing Scaffolds That Improve Motivation and Cognition. Educational Psychologist. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2013.838920

q2 · i? · theoretical · r3

Narrative review attribution to Palmer (2009), Patall (2013), and Pintrich and Schunk (1996); the underlying studies were not read. The review reports that providing meaningful choice about learning tasks can increase interest, under the two stated boundary conditions. No effect size is printed.

"Research indicates that providing meaningful choice about learning tasks can increase interest (Palmer, 2009; Patall, 2013; Pintrich & Schunk, 1996), although this effect may be limited to (a) students with good interest already (Patall, 2013), and (b) situations in which students have enough prior knowledge about the choices (Palmer, 2009)."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Self-determination theory holds that autonomy support raises intrinsic motivation, and a meta-analysis finds expected tangible rewards undermine it — related
• Autonomy, meaningful purpose, and interest improve intrinsic motivation and deeper processing — related
• Learners invest more effort in tasks they perceive as interesting, personally important, or useful to their future goals. — related