Integrating Self-Reports and Electrodermal Activity (EDA) Measurement in Studying Emotions in Professional Learning

Abstract

Studies on emotions in learning have been mostly conducted through self-reporting questionnaires and interviews conducted after the learning situation, which seldom focus on professional workplace learning. Meanwhile, workplace and professional learning research has been introduced with emerging methods to capture the learning processes at multiple levels. Previous research on emotions has suggested that self-reports should be supplemented with psychophysiological data. Challenged by this, this chapter aims to present and discuss the integration of self-reported and psychophysiological data in studying emotions and professional learning. The empirical research data are obtained from five Finnish university teachers participating in a laboratory research comprising self-reported data (through the Emotion Circle application and a Stimulated Recall Interview) and psychophysiological data collected from the subjects’ electrodermal activity. The process data on the quality, strength and duration of emotions are synchronised with those on psychophysiological, individual-level peaks of emotional arousal. The findings are discussed in terms of the possibilities and limitations of using complementary data in researching emotions in professional learning.