Boredom in the Classroom (eBook)

Gayle L. Macklem, MA, NCSP, LEP, is a Massachusetts-licensed educational psychologist and a nationally certified school psychologist. She has served in the field of education for more than 35 years. A former president of the Massachusetts School Psychologists Association (MSPA), she serves as the Technology Chairperson of the state association, and was recently honored with a lifetime achievement award. She is an instructor in the School Psychology Specialist and Doctoral Training Programs at the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology in Boston. She writes curricula and writes on topics of interest to educators. She is a frequent presenter at regional and national conferences. Ms. Macklem is the author of Springer’s Preventive Mental Health at School: Evidence-Based Services for Students (2014); Evidence-Based School Mental Health Services: Affect Education, Emotion Regulation Training, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (2011); Practitioner's Guide to Emotion Regulation in School-Aged Children (2008); and Bullying and Teasing: Social Power in Children’s Groups (2003).

Contents 6
Author Bios 8
Chapter 1: The Academic Emotion of Boredom: The Elephant in the Classroom 9
The Experience of Boredom 9
The Prevalence of Boredom 10
Academic Emotions 11
Positive and Negative Emotions 12
The Negative Emotion of Boredom 14
The Function of Boredom 15
Boredom in Situations Other than at School 16
Boredom in Three Academic Situations 17
Chapter 2: Unmasking Boredom: It’s Not So Simple or Uninteresting—Boredom Is Both Interesting and Complex 19
Ability Differences in Tendencies to Be Bored 19
Gender Differences 20
Cultural and Racial Differences 21
School Subject Area Differences in Triggering Boredom 22
Time Perception in Students When Bored 23
Measuring Boredom 24
Academic Emotions Questionnaires 25
More Specific Measures of Boredom 26
The Same or Different Constructs? 27
Chapter 3: The Many Faces of Boredom: A Negative Emotion That Is So Common, It Is Simply Accepted, or Brushed Off 29
State Boredom 29
Trait Boredom 31
Combined State and Trait Boredom 32
Subtypes of Boredom 33
Chapter 4: Theory: What Is Causing Our Students to Tune Out and Turn Off? 35
Earlier Theories 35
Dimensional Models 36
The Control-Value Theory of Achievement Emotions 36
The Attentional Theory of Boredom Proneness 38
Emotion Theory and Boredom 40
Less Well-Known Theories of Boredom 41
The Value of Theory 42
Chapter 5: Boredom and Its Relation to Non-cognitive Factors: Student Motivation, Self-Regulation, Engagement in Learning, and Related Concepts 43
Non-cognitive Factors Influencing Student Achievement 44
Student Engagement 45
Motivation 46
Interests 47
Beliefs, Attributions, and Appraisals 48
Goals 48
Self-Concept 49
Self-Regulated Learning 50
Chapter 6: Interventions for Externally Triggered Boredom: So What Can Teachers Do to Add a Bit of Excitement to Learning in the Classroom? 52
Preventing School Dropout by Addressing Boredom 52
Reducing Boredom in the School Environment 54
Teacher Behavior 55
Offering Choices 57
Encouraging Mastery Goals 57
Molding Student Appraisals 58
Active Learning 59
Decreasing Distractions to Prevent Boredom 60
Students’ Perceptions of Boredom in the Classroom 60
Helping Students Process Emotions in the Classroom 61
Chapter 7: Interventions for Internal Variables: Some Students Just Can’t Turn It On—They Will Need More than Great Teachers and Interesting Lessons 65
Life Must Have Meaning 66
Attributional Retraining 67
Social-Psychological Interventions and Diverse Students 69
Stereotyped Threat 70
Motivational Regulation 70
Emotional-Regulation and Volitional Strategy Training 72
Training Attention 75
Boredom Coping 76
References 79