Modelling the links between students' interest in a domain, the tasks they experience and their interest in a course: Isn't interest what university is all about?

In most formal educational contexts learning occurs through students' interaction with tasks embedded in courses representing learning domains. While current models of interest development describe how interest develops from an in-the-moment triggered state to a relatively enduring well-developed individual interest, this research investigates how interest develops across a set of tasks within a course defined by a specific knowledge domain. The current study examined the development of interest in the context of learning a second language at a Japanese university (n = 218) over one academic year. Predictive paths between prior interest in the domain, and competency beliefs at the outset of the course, were modelled in relation to successive course tasks and measures of course and domain interest recorded toward the end of the semester. Modelling included both variable-centred and person-centred perspectives. Accounting for prior interest, the results suggested a series of mediated relationships across task, course and finally domain interest. Self-concept and self-efficacy had different predictive effects on task interest early in the course. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.