The complexity of students' emotional processes in a discussion setting
Abstract
To fully understand students’ learning in educational settings and to increase
academic well-being, researchers have increasingly asked for more investigations of
emotional processes and their interactions with other factors in educational settings.
Classroom discussion has been recommended as a promising educational activity
because it affords students with the potential to participate actively in constructing
meaning through the sharing of ideas with their classmates as well as their teacher.
The purpose of this study was to explore students’ emotional processes
and their interactions with other aspects within an educational context that include
discussion. To investigate these, I chose one three-hour undergraduate upper division
seminar course for prospective teachers. To capture students’ emotional processes in
class discussion, I used multiple methods, including surveys, taking field notes, and
interviews with each student through stimulated recall.
Findings included that students bring their own individual differences in class
discussions and these tendencies influence how individuals interact with each other
and create emotional processes, both negative and positive. Those students who
showed a lack of consideration of social aspects involved in class discussion and who
dominated the discussion were likely to be tuned out by their classmates and to
receive negative feedback from them. This in turn reduced their motivation to
participate in subsequently. By contrast, students who were considerate of social
aspects involved in making contributions in classroom were likely to be well received
by their classmates, regardless of the frequency of their participation in class.
Emotional arguments or events during discussion could either push away students’
attention to the contents of discussion or bring the attention of the student who was
tuning out the discussion back.
Emotional processes in discussion had very complex characteristics based on
the interaction between individuals and the context and social interactions among
individuals in the educational context. This study provided a glimpse into the
complex emotional processes that occur in discussion settings and raised many
questions about emotional processes that further research should be conducted.
Department
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