The relationship between student interest and teacher's use of behavior alteration techniques

Two hundred and nine college students completed surveys that pertained to their perceptions of teacher behaviors (BATs) and their level of interest. Interest was measured using the Frymier, Shulman, and Houser (1996) Learner Empowerment Scale. Not only do the results indicate that pro‐social teacher behaviors are related to increased levels of student interest, but results show that different teacher behaviors are differentially related to the separate dimensions of interest. This supports earlier assertions by Weber, Martin and Patterson (2001) that interest is a multifaceted construct providing teachers with different avenues to influence their students’ affective responses.