Abstract
As technology becomes increasingly integrated with education, research on the relationships between students’ computing-related emotions and motivation following technological difficulties is critical to improving learning experiences. Following from Weiner’s (2010) attribution theory of achievement motivation, the present research examined relationships between causal attributions and emotions concerning academic computing difficulties in two studies. Study samples consisted of North American university students enrolled in both traditional and online universities (total N = 559) who responded to either hypothetical scenarios or experimental manipulations involving technological challenges experienced in academic settings. Findings from Study 1 showed stable and external attributions to be emotionally maladaptive (more helplessness, boredom, guilt), particularly in response to unexpected computing problems. Additionally, Study 2 found stable attributions for unexpected problems to predict more anxiety for traditional students, with both external and personally controllable attributions for minor problems proving emotionally beneficial for students in online degree programs (more hope, less anxiety). Overall, hypothesized negative effects of stable attributions were observed across both studies, with mixed results for personally controllable attributions and unanticipated emotional benefits of external attributions for academic computing problems warranting further study.
Highlights
Technology use and attitudes toward computing in education are becoming increasingly examined in educational psychology research, on student development in postsecondary education [1,2]
Hypothesis 1 proposed that internal attributions for technology-related problems should predict more positive and less negative emotions concerning academic computing
Results in support of Hypothesis 1 were observed showing internal attributions for computer problems to benefit positive emotions and predict less anxiety following serious events. This hypothesis was contradicted with results for online students showing internal attributions to predict more anxiety following nonserious computing failures
Summary
Technology use and attitudes toward computing in education are becoming increasingly examined in educational psychology research, on student development in postsecondary education [1,2]. Considering the prevalence of computing within education, pedagogical use of information communication technology (ICT) is arguably an essential cornerstone of personalized learning in teacher education [3]. Attributions, and emotions design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript
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