Hurray - That's difficult! The dynamics of student responses to and preferences for cognitive challenge

This project investigates motivational responses to cognitive challenge in real-life classrooms among a community sample of 600 gifted and non-gifted Grade 11 students. Using Experience Sampling Method to relate student engagement dynamically to instructional challenge, the project considers how students benefit from being confronted with learning material that is in line with their capacities. Beyond appreciating the general benefits associated with challenging schoolwork, the project addresses individual differences in responses to challenge. In particular, this project investigates the moderating role of the personality characteristic Need for Cognition, as the tendency to actively seek, engage in and enjoy effortful cognitive activity, in moderating student responses to classroom challenge, hypothesizing that in particular students with high NFC would report higher engagement in instructional episodes that are perceived as challenging. The project also examines the extent to which preferences for cognitive stimulation are domain-specific rather than domain-general. By considering in situ the dynamic interplay between Need for Cognition and instructional challenge, this project sheds new light on how teachers and schools can provide students with challenging schoolwork to boost their engagement.