Chemistry Reference
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to higher learning gains in students. With this respect, the literature on cbl intro-
duces the so-called need-to-know (Pilot & Bulte,
2006
) as a prerequisite of cbl
environments. Situations are only regarded as fruitful for learning, if they evoke a
need-to-know content knowledge in the learner. Mostly, the situation is presented
as an open and problem-oriented learning task that offers the learner the possibility
to experience their own need to get involved in finding out about the content
knowledge hidden behind the situation.
Researching such learning tasks, however, has to differentiate between affective
states that are content-specific or activity-related because the cognitive character
might have higher power to predict learning outcomes. Furthermore, even if both
constructs have effects on learning, they might be manipulated by different ele-
ments in the learning environment.
Whether affective states might foster or hinder learning has been investigated in
educational research on learning from texts (Schraw, Flowerday, & Lehman,
2001
;
Schraw & Lehman,
2001
). Evidence from this field can be used to develop fruitful
guidelines to design cbl environments in the chemistry classroom that have a
positive effect on learning outcomes. Specific text characteristics, like the relevance
of text information, are found to have a significant influence on situational interest
and text comprehension. However, this assumption is put into perspective by
research on “seductive details” (Wade & Adams,
1990
; Wade, Schraw, Buxton,
& Hayes,
1993
). In this research, motivation is raised by elements without any
cognitive relevance. Thus, a context might raise interest in students by giving a rich
and colorful account of a situation without providing enough opportunities to need-
to-know content knowledge. In this case, the cbl environment will potentially catch
student interest but would fail to provide a fruitful basis for learning chemical
concepts.
On the basis of the presented research evidence, the implication for cbl tasks
would be to examine the situation of the task according to both the need-to-know
which is evoked in students and the possible seductive details in the situation that
might distract students from feeling this particular need-to-know. For example, if
sports are chosen as a situation in which to discuss chemistry knowledge, students
may feel a higher need to discuss the performance of their favorite team in the
national football league rather than focusing on the underlying content knowledge.
Practitioners have to be aware of this and structure their task accordingly.
5 Merging Results of Three Studies on Interest in cbl Tasks
5.1 Research Question and Data Sources
As research evidence on situational interest in cbl learning environments is rare, our
group conducted a series of studies dedicated to reveal the relationship between
particular characteristics of context, content knowledge, and their impact on
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