Resumo

MESURADO, Belén. The flow experience or optimal experience in educational settings. rev.latinoam.psicol. [online]. 2010, vol.42, n.2, pp.183-192. ISSN 0120-0534.

The object of this investigation is to test a theoretical model that proposes that students' interest in school tasks, as well as the perception of abilities to develop those tasks and the perception of the challenges that these activities present, have an important impact on the optimal experience in the educational environment. The pattern also proposes that although the optimal experience is a complex construct formed by different characteristics, these can be grouped in three factors: perception of achievement, cognitive activation and affective quality. This model was tested by means of structural equation modelling. Additionally, the effect of the voluntary election of the activity on the three factors that compose the optimal experience has been studied by means of the use of ANOVAs. The sample was composed of 295 students aged 9 to 15 from public and private schools of medium socioeconomical level. The results indicate that the theoretical pattern was well adjusted to the empiric data. At the same time, the resulting data of the analysis of the variance support the hypothesis that the voluntary election to carry out the activity affects the optimal experience.

Palavras-chave : optimal experience; flow; education.

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