Getting Involved: Context-Based Learning in Chemistry Education - Affective Dimensions in Chemistry Education - page 49

regarding the first assumption, Pintrich ( 1999 ) criticized that conceptual change
approaches overrated cognitive aspects for a long time and therefore neglected their
affective counterparts. Pintrich, Marx, und Boyle ( 1993 ) claimed that a conceptual
change from daily-life explanations toward more scientific concepts was not solely
a question of logic or consistency but also one of emotions. A student might like or
dislike a scientific explanation, which might interfere with existing “entrenched
beliefs” (Chinn & Brewer, 1998 ) or prejudices (Menthe, 2006 ). Such interferences
can support or hinder further developments of conceptual understanding and,
therefore, need to be considered in learning processes.
A number of publications still criticize the neglect of affective aspects, such as
feelings, attitudes, motivation, or interest in science education (e.g., Alsop &Watts,
2003 ; Eccles &Wigfield, 2002 ; Hidi & Baird, 1986 ; Osborne et al., 2003 ). How can
affective aspects be better integrated into science or, more specifically, chemistry
teaching and learning processes? Approaches such as science-technology-society
(STS, e.g., Aikenhead, 2006 ), context-based learning (CBL, Gilbert, 2006 ; King,
2009 ), or socio-scientific issues (SSI, e.g., Kolstø & Ratcliffe, 2007 ; Marks & Eilks,
2009 ; Ratcliffe & Grace, 2003 ) connect science concepts and principles of inves-
tigation to the students

real life and thereby claim to link cognitive and affective

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goals and preconditions.
Positive effects on students interest have been reported especially for context-

based learning approaches (Bennett, Lubben, & Hogarth, 2007 ; Nentwig &
Waddington, 2005 ; Parchmann et al., 2006 ). Those effects can be connected to
theories of interest and motivation that identify aspects which are explicitly taken
into consideration in CBL approaches.

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2 Frameworks of Motivation, Interest, and Attitudes
as a Theoretical Foundation for Context-Based Learning

In this section, the general frameworks of interest and motivation are depicted.
Their relation to the design of context-based learning environments will be
addressed at the end of each subsection and then again with more details in the
third section of this paper.

2.1 Motivation

What constitutes the intention or the desire to engage in something? How do
students attitudes, beliefs, values, and goals influence such intentions? These

crucial questions are researched by motivational theories. A very influential moti-
vation theory is the self-determination theory of Deci und Ryan ( 1985 , 2000 ). In
this theory, extrinsic motivation is related to external factors (e.g., the desire to have

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