First Advisor
James Kole
First Committee Member
Kevin Pugh
Second Committee Member
Sue Hyeon Paek
Third Committee Member
Han Yu
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Document Type
Dissertation
Date Created
12-2025
Department
College of Education and Behavioral Sciences, Psychological Sciences, SPS Student Work
Abstract
Boredom is detrimental to academic achievement. Using shallow learning strategies such as rote memorization is similarly unfavorable for success in academic settings compared to using deep learning strategies such as generating examples. Such is the consensus among scholars, but research conducted in both constructs reveals inconsistencies. The purpose of this study was to experimentally manipulate boredom and learning strategies to determine how boredom and learning strategies impact achievement, as well as to investigate whether certain individual differences, need for cognition and need for affect, change the relationships between boredom, learning strategies, and retention. In an online study, I recruited 131 total participants, who were randomly assigned to a boring or less boring lecture video as well as to one of four learning strategies (copy, paraphrase, apply, generate) to practice the content from the lecture. The learning strategy practice was interleaved throughout the lecture video. Participants then completed the 15-item version of the Multi-Dimensional State Boredom Scale, a multiple-choice test over the content from the lecture video, the 6-item version of the Need for Cognition Scale, and the short version of the Need for Affect Questionnaire. Neither boredom nor learning strategies impacted proportion correct on the test. Since the learning strategy practice interrupted the lecture, this could have cancelled the boredom emotion itself and negated the effects of boredom. There could have been null results for learning strategies because participants were assigned to use certain strategies rather than choosing one to use themselves in which they were comfortable. Need for cognition was positively associated with test performance, and it moderated the relationship between deep strategies and test performance in a positive way and between the paraphrase strategy and test performance in a negative way. Implications for these results are that students high in need for cognition prefer to use deep learning strategies and may perform worse when they are forced to use shallow learning strategies, and those low in need for cognition may perform best when they use shallow learning strategies. Need for cognition should be considered when recommending which learning strategies students should use and when. The avoidance component of need for affect was positively correlated with scores on the boredom scale and was negatively correlated with test performance when controlling for boredom and the approach component of need for affect. This suggests that when students tend to avoid their emotions, they experience higher levels of boredom in education settings and lower levels of achievement because they avoid regulating their emotions such as boredom. It is possible that educators need to focus on need for affect and not boredom by itself when considering advice about developing less boring lecture content.
Abstract Format
html
Language
English
Extent
159 pages
Rights Statement
Copyright is held by the author.
Digital Origin
Born digital
Recommended Citation
Chapman, Mary, "Do Need for Cognition and Need for Affect Moderate the Relationship Between Lecture Style, Learning Strategies, and Retention?" (2025). Dissertations. 1217.
https://digscholarship.unco.edu/dissertations/1217