Student interest in teaching and learning: Conceptualizing and testing a process model of teacher communication, student emotional and cognitive interest, and engagement

This dissertation examines the role of teacher communication, student interest, and student engagement in the teaching and process and contributes to prior theory and research in several ways. First, this study unites two teacher behaviors into a concise model of teaching and learning. Research has indicated that teacher immediacy and teacher clarity can have an important influence on student learning. This study considers the combined influence of these variables on student outcomes. Second, this dissertation examines the role of student interest in the instructional context. In particular, this dissertation explores how communication on the part of teachers can influence emotional interest and cognitive interest on the part of students. Guided by emotional interest theory, cognitive interest theory, and the tenets of an operational model, this dissertation informs how teacher communication behaviors influence student interest and how interest impacts student engagement and learning.Chapter One presents a conceptual foundation for the problem area for this dissertation and identifies a rationale for the study. Specifically, relevant literature is reviewed to identify conceptual definitions and establish a foundation for the literature reviewed in the subsequent chapter. Chapter Two provides a systematic and comprehensive overview of extant literature and presents the research questions and hypotheses. The chapter chronicles the relationships between teacher immediacy, teacher clarity, student interest, and student learning. Guided by the tenets of the conceptual model, the review of literature yields a parsimonious and operational model of the learning process which features communication, interest, and engagement as the primary constructs in this model. Chapter Three presents the methods and results of a pilot study designed to construct appropriate research measures for this dissertation. Chapter Four offers a description of the methods used to collect, analyze, and interpret data as part of the primary study for this dissertation. Chapter Five reports the results of the primary study, describes the measurement model and the structural model, and advances a final model of communication, interest, and engagement. Chapter Six discusses the findings, addresses theoretical and pedagogical implications of the dissertation, assesses its limitations, and identifies areas for future research.