Effect of congruence in measured interests on self-perceived academic competence in Australian Year 12 students

Master of EducationThe link between interest and quality of learning experience in school has attracted voluminous research in recent years. Varied conceptions of interest, however, lead to gaps in our knowledge about the nature of the empirical linkage between interest and the quality of learning. In the light of Holland's theory of interest and model of person-environment interaction, the present study, unlike the previous studies, conceptualises interest as an interaction between generic interest as an individual characteristic and the nature of the learning environment. Subject-level interest is thus seen as resulting from the congruence of generic interest and the content of the individual school subjects chosen for study. Several recent Australian investigations have shown strong links between Holland's RIASEC (Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising and Conventional) generic interest themes and students' subject and course choices. These links make it possible to investigate the effect of congruence between generic interests and school subject choices on the learning experience of students. The data of this study derives from a 1993 National Survey on school subject choice in approximately 10,000 Australian Year 12 students. The perception of academic self-concept in students, as a facet of quality of learning experience, is focused upon as a criterion for testing the effect of congruence between generic interest and school subject choices of the students. Investigation of the empirical relationship between congruence and students' perception of academic self-competence is facilitated by the mathematical expression of congruence which is formulated by Hesketh and Myors (1997) as a multiplicative term in a multiple regression analysis which also includes terms for student background characteristics, interests and curriculum fields studied. Further, to control for the possibility of clustering effects at the school level, multi-level regression modelling was used. The study found a positive relationship between congruence in interest and improvement in students' perception of academic self-competence, net of background (gender and socio-economic background), interest, and curriculum field participation, for four of the six congruence terms investigated. It was interesting to note that the effect of congruence was mediated through self-perceived interestingness in the curriculum studied. That is to say, students who chose school subjects congruent with their generic interest found their studies more interesting and their belief in their academic self-competence stronger than their non-congruent peers. It is recommended that curriculum planners and counsellors take account of the positive psychological impact of congruence between generic interest and school subject choice in designing 'interest congruent' learning experiences and in assisting students make congruent choices in Year 11 and 12