Britte Cheng

Dr. Cheng completed her undergrad in Psychology at the University of Chicago. Britte worked on several research projects while at the University of Chicago, but the work with Csikszentmihalyi included interviewing adolescents at length about their upbringing and life to date. This was part of the effort to document the types of lives folks who were flow-prone had, what kind of families, experiences, education, etc. She managed data collection in several cities.

She received both her MA and PhD from Berkeley in Education in Cognition and Development/Education, Math, Science, and Technology.

Britte’s interest in the flow concepts centers more about the match between cognitive abilities and the challenge of the task. Britte elaborates,

"This is Vygotsky's ZPD. The point for me was about learning as a flow activity more than straight on motivation. Since then, I have continued to study how to connect to student's personal experiences, interests, etc. to create a more meaningful (and I guess arguably) motivating learning experience in classrooms. This is the mission of LIFE - the center that I am a part of."

For more information, check out the Learning in Informal and Formal Environments (LIFE) Center.

While working at SRI - Stanford Research Institute, Britte’s research strives to make help make homework that is engaging socially!

Britte chose the Rathunde & Csikszentmihalyi article because it connects flow to learning experiences -- as formalized in a pedagogical approach. She feels that teachers would see the relevance of the ideas in practice. She also feels that the connection between flow, motivation, and learning is fairly explicit.

Discussion Article
Rathunde, K. & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2005). Middle school students' motivation and quality of experience: A comparison of Montessori and traditional school environments. American Journal of Education, 111, 341-371.

rathunde & csikszentmihalyi article download