“I do it for the aha! Moments” is printed on t-shirts that can be ordered on an online teachers’ forum. Teachers experience that aha-moments are crucial in children’s learning, and on the internet, they share ideas of how to elicit aha-experiences in their teaching. Despite anecdotal evidence of aha-experiences in children, there has so far been little systematic research on them, which is surprising considering the many positive effects aha-experiences may have on learning. In adults, research has shown that something learned with an aha-experience may be better understood (Barot et al., 2024), is easier to remember (Danek et al., 2013; Kizilirmak et al., 2016), and provides motivation and interest (Liljedahl, 2005, Muth et al., 2015; Skaar & Reber, 2020).
This doctoral thesis addresses the knowledge gap within children’s aha-experiences, with three overarching aims. The first is to gain an impression of how aha-experiences occur during childhood. The second goal is to understand their involvement in children’s learning and developmental processes. To investigate this, we focused on how children understand aha-experiences in a problem-solving process and how aha-experiences are involved in interest development. Thirdly, as this is a new line of research, the dissertation provides new materials developed to study children and aha-experiences, and methodological experiences that may lay a foundation for future research on the topic.
The dissertation consists of three papers that aim to provide an early understanding of aha-experiences in childhood. The first paper aims to answer how aha experiences are present during childhood. The paper consists of two studies, which include content analysis of parental reports from a Norwegian sample, and an international sample of English-speaking parents. A total of 606 stories of children’s aha-experiences (3 weeks to 16 years) were described and analyzed. The study provided three main findings, which were replicated across the samples. First, children have aha-experiences throughout childhood, and even infants may have aha-experiences. Second, children have aha-experiences on various topics related to actional and cognitive challenges. Third, the focus of aha-experiences for children shifts from action to cognition with age. Moreover, data revealed that in line with findings for adults, children have aha-experiences in settings from their daily lives, such as in play or school contexts; that they have aha-moments alone or together with others; and that positive affect is associated with such moments.
The second paper examines how children develop their understanding of aha-experiences. In line with the emotion development field, we used a scenario-based approach for children aged 4-8. 167 children from schools and kindergartens participated. We found that at 4 years of age, children understood at an above-chance level that an aha-experience is about a new idea to solve a problem and attributed the experience to the situation. The 7- and 8-year-olds showed a better understanding that the aha-experience is about a new idea to solve a problem and attributed the aha-experience to the idea. The findings are discussed in terms of similar developmental trajectories of understanding cognition and emotion. Moreover, the findings are discussed in a metacognitive perspective, such as how aha-experiences may inform children of progression in their problem-solving processes.
The third paper aims to provide an understanding of how aha-experiences and the associated metacognitive feelings (positive affect, certainty, and fluency) are involved in interest development. In an eight-week longitudinal study inspired by Ecological Momentary Assessment research, we asked middle school students (13-16 years) about their mathematical interest and aha-experiences at the end of a mathematics lesson. Responses from 468 students were analyzed using Structural Equation Models (SEM) and cross-sectional analysis. The results indicate that aha-experiences and their related metacognitive feelings are associated with situational interest and that the association is primarily explained by their shared factor, positive affect. Moreover, findings indicate that individual interest moderates the relationship between situational interest and aha-experiences, meaning that the relation is stronger for students with low individual interest. However, our study did not find a longitudinal effect of aha-experiences or metacognitive feelings on developing individual interest. Taking the results together, Paper 3 provides a deeper understanding into how aha-experiences is involved in interest development.
In addition to the empirical findings, this dissertation provides methodological contributions. The lack of basic knowledge and developed methods was an issue when starting this project. During the project, we developed questionnaires and scenario materials to investigate children’s aha-experiences. Moreover, we gained experience and knowledge that may support future work on the topic.
The empirical and methodological contribution of the current work may serve as initial building blocks in the development of knowledge that supports researchers, teachers, and others engaged in children in their search to understand what drives children’s development and how to provide children with more aha-experience.