ABSTRACT
Research on student interest by Renninger and Hidi (2002) included a seventh-grader named Sam who had broad interests and did well in most subjects. When asked to describe the subjects he liked best, he wrote:
I have several favorite subjects: reading, math, history, science, sports, woodshop, art, and music. What I like about reading is the fact that I can get a picture in my mind of a story without it being visual. I like math because I am pretty good at it and I like the challenge of tough math problems. I also like history because I like learning about what life was like in past years and we probably can learn some lessons from it. I like science because I like seeing how things work. I like sports because I like getting my energy out and I am pretty good at them. I like woodshop because I like building things. I like art because I like working with my hands and creating objects out of clay. I like music because I like playing all kinds of instruments and I like learning about the different kinds of music in the world.
