Using Epistemic Emotions to Support Canadian Pre-Service Teachers Learning about Classroom Assessment

Abstract

Students feel epistemic emotions like surprise or frustration when they encounter content that conflicts with their beliefs or previous knowledge in a way that can facilitate or hinder learning. Pre-service teachers may find that professional perspectives on assessment conflict with their previous knowledge of assessment, creating epistemic emotions. The purpose of this research was to evaluate how frustration, curiosity, and surprise felt during two learning experiences related to self-reported learning of assessment and application to practice. N = 205 pre-service teachers consented for their responses to questions associated with two learning activities to be analyzed. Participants reported experiencing moderate levels of curiosity in both activities, but one garnered more frustration and the other more surprise. Frustration was negatively associated with self-reported learning and application. Whereas, curiosity and surprise had statistically significant positive associations with the outcomes. We discuss the role of epistemic emotions in learning about assessment and offer recommendations for instructors.