Academic Emotions Research Articles

Exploring Academic Emotions Using Design Thinking Applied to Elementary School Learning Stress Adaptation

Background: Students’ learning stress adaptation is crucial. Research on design thinking in stress adaptation and academic emotions is still lacking. Methods: This study developed “Stress Relief Design” instructional activities using a mixed-method research design, including student academic emotion journals and a stress relief agreement survey for data collection. This study was approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee and conducted in accordance with ethical guidelines. Participants were 24 students, aged 10 to 12, recruited through open enrollment. The instructional activities were conducted in a holiday workshop format, consisting of fifteen sessions over 5 days, with three sessions per day. Results: The results indicated that students predominantly experienced positive academic emotions (joy, pride, hope, and relaxation), with negative emotions (anxiety and boredom) being less common. Students reported that the course helped them relieve psychological stress. Conclusions: Therefore, design thinking is suitable for application in stress adaption courses and creates a learning environment that supports students’ academic emotions, making it a critical learning focus for modern students. This study contributes to the academic research on the application of design thinking in elementary school health education and learning stress adaptation, as well as on academic emotions.

Mediating role of academic self-efficacy and academic emotions in the relationship between teacher support and academic achievement.

Academic achievement reflects students' learning outcomes over a period of time and serves as a crucial gauge of student learning levels, as well as a focal point of societal interest. To investigate the impact of teacher support on academic achievement and its mechanism of action, this study introduces two mediating variables-academic self-efficacy and academic emotions-to construct a chain mediation model, and conducts a survey among 800 university students in Nanjing. The findings reveal that teacher support directly impacts academic achievement; academic self-efficacy mediates the effect of teacher support on academic achievement; academic emotions also mediate the effect of teacher support on academic achievement; and there is a chain mediating effect of academic self-efficacy and academic emotions in the relationship between teacher support and academic achievement. This research elucidates the relationship between teacher support and academic achievement, providing a theoretical foundation and practical recommendations for enhancing the academic performance of university students.

Classroom Social Climate and Student Engagement in English as a Foreign Language Learning: The Mediating Roles of Academic Buoyancy and Academic Emotions

Classroom Social Climate and Student Engagement in English as a Foreign Language Learning: The Mediating Roles of Academic Buoyancy and Academic Emotions

Effects of short-form video app addiction on academic anxiety and academic engagement: The mediating role of mindfulness.

The impact of short-form video app addiction on academic performance, including academic anxiety and engagement, has not been adequately explored or addressed. This study tested the effects of short-form video app addiction on academic anxiety and academic engagement and the mediating role of mindfulness in these relationships. The participants were 1,879 undergraduates in China who completed the Short-Form Video App Addiction Scale, Mindful Attention Awareness Scale, Academic Anxiety Sub-questionnaire of Academic Emotions Questionnaire, and Engagement Scales. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to analyse the data. The results indicate that short-form video app addiction has significant positive effects on academic anxiety and negative effects on academic engagement. Furthermore, short-form video app addiction has significant indirect effects on academic anxiety and engagement via mindfulness. The proportions of the mediation effects are 19.23 and 51.85%, respectively. The implications and limitations of this study are discussed.

The influence of perceived formative assessment on the learning autonomy of medical students: the chain mediating role of psychological empowerment and positive academic emotions.

Medical students' autonomous learning is a cornerstone of their educational journey. Formative assessment is defined as a process to enhance learning and improve academic performance, and the key to the effectiveness of formative assessment is the students' perceptions of it. The present study investigates the impacts of perceived formative assessment on the learning autonomy of medical students, explores the chain mediating role of psychological empowerment and positive academic emotions, and offers strategies for facilitating medical students' autonomous learning. A cross-sectional investigation was conducted using a convenience sampling method involving 713 medical students (mean age 19.72 ± 1.18 years; 207 male and 506 female students; the proportion of participants is 93.69%) in Shandong Second Medical University. Perceived formative assessment was performed using a self-designed questionnaire of Perceived Formative Evaluation for Medical Students, learning autonomy using the Autonomy in Learning Rating Scale for College Students, positive academic emotions using the General Academic Emotion Questionnaire for College Students, and psychological empowerment of medical students using the Chinese version of Psychological Empowerment Scale (PES). The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation, multiple regression, and mediation analysis using the SPSS26.0 program and PROCESS3.1. Perceived formative assessment significantly predicted learning autonomy (β = 0.06, p < 0.05). It also positively predicted psychological empowerment (β = 0.20, p < 0.001), and psychological empowerment positively predicted the learning autonomy of medical students (β = 0.36, p < 0.001). Psychological empowerment also positively predicted positive academic emotions (β = 0.64, p < 0.001), and positive academic emotions positively predicted learning autonomy (β = 0.44, p < 0.001). The direct effect value of perceived formative assessment on learning autonomy was 0.18, while the total indirect effect was 0.43. The mediation effect of psychological empowerment on the relationship between perceived formative assessment and learning autonomy was 0.22, and the chain mediation effect of psychological empowerment and positive academic emotions was 0.18, accounting for 30%, 70%, 36%, and 30% of the total effect, respectively. Perceived formative assessment directly enhances medical students' learning autonomy. This relationship is partially mediated by psychological empowerment and positive academic emotions. The results suggest that formative evaluation boosts psychological empowerment, which fosters positive academic emotions and further promotes learning autonomy.

The effects of Chinese calligraphic handwriting education on positive mental characters and academic emotions in Chinese primary school students

The current research tested the relationship between Chinese calligraphic handwriting (CCH) education and student academic emotions. Using a quasi-experimental, cross-sectional design, we recruited 448 third- to sixth-grade students, and about half of them (N = 228) come from a CCH specialist school and the other half (N = 220) from a general primary school. We examined the relations between CCH education and student outcomes in two ways: comparing the means of academic emotions between the two groups and investigating the associations between the CCH level of the CCH students (rated by CCH teachers) and their academic emotions. Results showed that compared with the control group, CCH group had a higher level of positive low arousal of academic emotions. Within the CCH group, however, more significant associations were found between CCH level and student outcomes. We further found the interaction effect of CCH level and positive mental characters on academic emotions, specifically, the positive low arousal and negative high arousal academic emotions. Limitations and implications of the study were discussed.

The impact of teachers' emotional support on EFL learners' online learning engagement: The role of enjoyment and boredom

Learning engagement is acknowledged as a vital proxy for evaluating the quality of online education, and teachers' emotional support, as an essential component of social support within the educational environment, positively influences learners' online learning engagement. The present study draws on Person-environment Interaction Model and Broaden-and-Build Theory to investigate the effect of teachers' emotional support on online learning engagement for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners and the mediating roles of academic emotions, specifically enjoyment and boredom. A questionnaire survey was conducted among 411 Chinese college EFL learners who were selected through convenience sampling. The results revealed that teachers' emotional support was not a direct predictor of online learning engagement but indirectly affected it through the mediating role of enjoyment and the serial mediating roles of both enjoyment and boredom. Additionally, the mediating effect of enjoyment was much stronger than the chain mediating effect of enjoyment and boredom. Teachers should pay more attention to facilitating learners' enjoyment and relieving their boredom, which would enhance the positive impact of teachers' emotional support on online learning engagement. These results have some pedagogical implications for improving students' online English learning engagement and enhancing the quality of sustainable online education.

Influence of Teacher and Student Relationship on the Academic Motivation in the Presence of Academic Emotions

Influence of Teacher and Student Relationship on the Academic Motivation in the Presence of Academic Emotions

Uncovering the impacts of technology literacies and acceptance on emotion regulation, resilience, willingness to communicate, and enjoyment in Intelligent Computer-Assisted Language Assessment (ICALA): an experimental study

Acquiring technological literacy and acceptance has a significant influence on academic emotion regulation (AER), academic resilience (AR), willingness to communicate (WTC), and academic enjoyment (AE), which are crucial for the success of university students. However, this area has not been adequately explored in research, particularly in the context of Intelligent Computer-Assisted Language Assessment (ICALA). This study aimed to bridge the existing information gap by examining the impact of technology literacies and acceptance on the AER, AR, WTC, and AE levels among Uzbek university students enrolled in virtual English as a foreign language (EFL) programs with online evaluation. Quasi-experimental research was carried out with 67 university students pursuing a degree in Applied linguistics to assess the potential underlying connections. Throughout the semester, students in the experimental group were provided with instructional feedback to foster technology literacies and acceptance through a private group on Telegram. This feedback assisted them in acquiring pertinent information to improve the application of technology in language learning and assessment. Based on the results, students in EG fared better than their counterparts in the control group in terms of AER, AR, WTC, and AE in ICALA. The data indicates that in the ICALA setting, EFL learners experience unpleasant emotions, a lack of resilience, unenjoyment, and an unwillingness to communicate due to a lack of knowledge in the application of technology. The implications of the study are examined in further detail.

Second language learners’ academic emotions in grammar learning with explicit attention to grammatical complexity

ABSTRACT Grammatical complexity, a hot topic in grammar research, poses great challenges for second language (L2) learners. This study aims to investigate L2 learners’ emotional reactions to L2 grammar learning, and the epistemic emotional sources related to grammatical complexity. Thirty sophomore English majors aged between 19 and 20 from a natural class were recruited in the present study. Through qualitative research design, the data consisted of 30 written narrative reflections with each containing a self-report on emotional experiences and a recalled summary of learning strategies, along with 10 semi-structured interviews. A deductive content analysis approach and thematic analysis were used for the data analysis. The present study revealed five main findings. First, delight and anxiety are saliently representative achievement-related activity emotions; second, disappointment represents the typical retrospective outcome emotion; third, hope is the typical prospective outcome emotion; fourth, the social aspects of the present context elicit the emotion of gratitude, whereas the cognitive aspects of grammatical complexity cause a more complicated emotional state; fifth, epistemic emotions are mainly evoked by thinking-related factors, syntactic rules, and the practical application of syntactic rules. Pedagogical implications for L2 grammar teaching were discussed.

Benefits of dispositional mindfulness among adolescents: relationship with academic emotions and academic engagement

Benefits of dispositional mindfulness among adolescents: relationship with academic emotions and academic engagement

Artificial intelligence (AI) -integrated educational applications and college students’ creativity and academic emotions: students and teachers’ perceptions and attitudes

BackgroundIntegrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) in educational applications is becoming increasingly prevalent, bringing opportunities and challenges to the learning environment. While AI applications have the potential to enhance structured learning, they may also significantly impact students’ creativity and academic emotions.ObjectivesThis study aims to explore the effects of AI-integrated educational applications on college students’ creativity and academic emotions from the perspectives of both students and teachers. It also assessed undergraduate students’ and faculty’s attitudes to AI-integrated applications.MethodologyA mixed-method research design was used. In the first phase, a qualitative research approach was employed, utilizing theoretical sampling to select informants. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with undergraduate students and university lecturers to gain comprehensive insights into their experiences and perceptions. A scale was developed, validated, and administered to 120 students and faculty in the quantitative phase. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the data.FindingsThe study revealed that AI applications often impose rigid frameworks that constrain creative thinking and innovation, leading to emotional disengagement due to AI interactions’ repetitive and impersonal nature. Additionally, constant AI assessments heightened performance anxiety, and technical frustrations disrupted the learning process. Conversely, AI applications stimulated creativity by introducing new ideas and problem-solving techniques, enhanced engagement through interactive elements, provided personalized feedback, and supported emotional well-being with gamified elements and constant availability. Quantitative data also verified that teachers and students have positive attitudes toward the benefits and challenges of these applications.ConclusionsAI integration in educational applications has a dual-edged impact on college students’ creativity and academic emotions. While there are notable benefits in stimulating creativity and enhancing engagement, significant challenges such as creativity constraints, emotional disengagement, and performance anxiety must be addressed. Balancing these factors requires thoughtful implementation and continuous evaluation to optimize the role of AI in education.

The Influence of Motivation and Academic Emotions on Academic Performance in High School Learning

Emotions felt during learning influence students’ behavior, thinking, and attention in the classroom. On the other hand, motivation is a crucial factor that impacts high school students' performance in learning, as it helps students feel the urge to pay attention and desire to learn, whether for a good grade or other reasons. Through this research, we aimed to discover the relationship between motivation and academic motions as predictors of academic performance, when it comes to the learning process during lessons. We intended to determine whether performance is directionally influenced by motivation and academic emotions, and if so, to what extent. Additionally, we seek to identify which types of emotions —positive or negative, activating or deactivating — have a greater impact on learning. 110 high school students from the 9th and 12th grades participated in this study. The main finding indicated that positive emotions, and also activating emotions contribute to the explained variation of performances of students in high school classes more than motivation. Conclusions and recommendations are also made.

The Correlation between Bullying, Academic Emotion and Teacher Support in Baccalaureate Nursing Education

Objective: To investigate and analyze the relationship between bullying, academic emotion, and teacher support in the nursing education of undergraduate nursing students. Methods: A convenient sampling method was adopted by conducting a questionnaire survey on undergraduate nursing students of a university from October 2022 to December 2022. Spearman’s correlation was used to analyze the relationship between bullying, academic emotions, and teacher support of nursing students, with a significance level of α = 0.05. Results: The total score for educational bullying was 12.51 ± 8.71, the total academic emotional score was 284.25 ± 34.69, and the total teacher support score was 80.76 ± 14.39. A negative correlation was found between nursing students’ bullying and teacher support, s = -0.20, P &lt; 0.01, while a positive correlation was observed between academic emotion and teacher support, s = 0.21, P &lt; 0.01. Additionally, bullying in nursing education was positively correlated with academic emotion, s = 0.25, P &lt; 0.01. Conclusion: The academic emotion and teacher support of nursing students are at a moderate level. Part of the challenges in nursing survival is due to bullying in nursing education. Nursing educators should prioritize the stable development of nursing staff.

Secondary school students' appraisal profiles and their relations with academic emotions in mathematics

This study adopted a person-centered method to investigate the latent profiles of students' cognitive appraisals based on control-value theory, providing a picture of their academic emotional landscape. Students' appraisal profiles regarding academic emotions were also compared. The data were collected from 1762 students (50.7 % male; Mage = 13.88, SD = 0.84) in 68 mathematics classrooms across 11 secondary schools in Jiangsu, China. Latent profile analysis identified four patterns based on academic control and value: extrinsic value orientation (4.9 %) and low (13.4 %), medium (41.3 %), and high appraisal profiles (40.4 %). Students in the high appraisal profile showed the highest level of positive emotions and the lowest level of negative emotions, followed by those with the medium appraisal profile. Those in the extrinsic value orientation profile, however, displayed the lowest level of positive emotions and the highest level of negative emotions. The four profiles also showed significant correlations with the students' background characteristics. Educational relevance statementThis study aims to explore possible subgroups of control and value appraisals and their relationships with academic emotions in mathematics classrooms. This study suggests that students in the high appraisal profile (i.e., high academic control and value) tend to report high levels of positive emotions and low levels of negative emotions, followed by students in the medium profile (i.e., medium academic control and value). Additionally, students in the extrinsic value orientation profile (i.e., high extrinsic value but low academic control and intrinsic value) performed worse than the students in other three appraisal profiles both emotionally and academically. Therefore, it is crucial to foster students' competence beliefs and intrinsic value in mathematics to enhance their positive learning experiences.

Examining Texting in the Classroom Between Adolescents Without and With Learning Disabilities: Do Classroom Climate and Academic Boredom Matter?

The present study investigated texting in the classroom through written (SMS) and instant (social media) messages comparatively between adolescents without and with LD. Also, applying the Social Cognitive Theory, the role of perceived classroom climate and academic boredom in texting in the classroom was co-examined through an explanatory mediation model. Overall, 439 students (59% girls) without LD and 408 students (47% girls) with LD, who both attended randomly selected Greek junior high schools of Mainstream Education and used a mobile phone, completed self-reported scales about the variables involved with reference to the Modern Greek language course. The results showed that texting in the classroom (through written/instant messages) was above average for both student subgroups, regardless of their gender. However, within a comparative perspective, texting in the classroom through instant (social media) messages was higher for students with LD. Furthermore, in the relationship between perceived classroom climate and texting in the classroom (through written/instant messages) academic boredom proved a full mediator for students without LD and a partial mediator for students with LD. The findings imply the need for psychoeducational interventions in the context of specific school courses, to strengthen differentiated dimensions of psychosocial classroom climate for adolescents without and with LD. Thus, positive academic emotions and minimized disruptive texting in the classroom could be achieved.

ACADEMIC EMOTIONS OF LEARNING ENGLISH THROUGH ENGLISH NATIVE SPEAKER’S VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE: STUDENTS’ VOICE

Academic emotions are the feelings or emotions that students experience when they are learning. This study aimed to analyze students' academic emotions regarding the use of English-native speaker videos on YouTube for learning vocabulary. A qualitative design was used to conduct the study, which employed a questionnaire and in-depth interviews to collect data. The participants of this study were third- and fifth-semester English major students at Universitas Muhammadiyah Kendari. The findings showed that, in terms of positive emotions, students enjoyed the learning process and were motivated to continue learning vocabulary. It was because the videos of English native speakers on YouTube provided interesting material, easy-to-understand pronunciation, and freedom to choose topics. Students were optimistic about the benefits of these videos for vocabulary improvement and proud of their learning achievements when learning vocabulary. Furthermore, in the negative emotions, it showed that the students did not feel desperate when learning vocabulary through native speaker videos on YouTube, and students generally do not get bored because they can overcome boredom in various ways, such as choosing short videos, changing to other videos, or taking short breaks. These conclusions suggest that English-native speaker videos on YouTube are an effective and enjoyable vocabulary learning medium for students.

Online class-related boredom and perceived academic achievement among college students: the roles of gender and school motivation

Online class-related boredom among college students is an academic emotion most often ignored by the academic community. Therefore, only a few empirical studies have been conducted by research scholars on this subject. From the viewpoint of self-determination theory and the control-value theory of achievement emotion, this research study attempts to investigate the association between online class-related boredom, school motivation, and academic achievement. Accordingly, a total of 1294 Chinese college students are taken on board. Noticeably, the study findings indicate that online class-related boredom among college students exerts a negative correlation with their academic achievement. Furthermore, intrinsic school motivation mediates the relationship between online class-related boredom and academic achievement, whereas extrinsic school motivation also exhibits a relevant effect. Lastly, gender moderates the mediating effect of school motivation between online class-related boredom and academic achievement. Specifically, in male students, increased online class-related boredom is associated with higher levels of extrinsic motivation. In contrast, in female students, increased online class-related boredom correlates with reduced levels of both extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. In the context of research significance, on the one hand, this paper suggests that college teachers should pay due attention to the negative emotions and school motivation of college students in online classrooms, in order to improve teaching practice; on the other hand, this research study further empirically ascertains the control-value theory of achievement emotions and self-determination theory.

Addressing the links between and internal vs. external regulation factors, achievement emotions and gender in problematic use of ICT at university.

The study of internal and external regulation in the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and the analysis of academic emotions have become increasingly important due to their impact on academic life at university. This research aims to investigate the links between internal vs. external regulation factors, achievement emotions, and gender in the problematic use of ICT among university students. The study recruited 317 university students, predominantly female (72.51%), using an ex-post facto design. The SRT-ERT scale was used to assess technology-related behaviors, and the AEQ Scales measured academic emotions before, during, and after class. Correlation analysis, multiple regression analysis, and ANOVA were employed to identify significant relationships. Significant relationships were identified between regulatory behaviors, with male students exhibiting more dysregulated behavior and greater exposure to dysregulatory technology environments. Individual and contextual behavioral nonregulation and dysregulation in the use of ICT were significantly predictive of negative academic emotions. The findings suggest that both personal and contextual factors of regulation significantly influence the emotional experiences of students in academic settings. The study highlights the need for psycho-educational interventions to promote better regulatory behaviors among university students, particularly males.

The relationship between future orientation and academic anxiety: the mediating role of achievement goal orientation and sex difference

ABSTRACT Due to the prevalence of academic anxiety among primary school students and its long-term effect on the physical and mental health, researchers have carried out a lot of research on it. According to the control-value theory of achievement emotions, this cross-sectional study sought to explore the relationship between students’ future orientation and academic anxiety, to reveal the mediating effect of achievement goal orientations, and to test gender difference. A total of 5,330 students in grades 4–6 from 8 primary schools in China were included in the questionnaire-based investigation. The results showed that (1) girls’ academic anxiety, master-avoidance, and performance-avoidance goal orientations were significantly higher than those of boys, while performance-approach goal orientation was significantly lower than those of boys; (2) future orientation significantly positively predicted academic anxiety; (3) achievement goal orientation played a mediating role between future orientation and academic anxiety; and (4) there was a significant gender difference in this mediating effect. The four areas of achievement goal orientations have a complete mediating effect on academic anxiety for boys, but the master-approach and master-avoidance goal orientations play a partial mediating role between future orientation and academic anxiety for girls. This study contributes to deep understanding of academic anxiety among Chinese pupils, and implications for academic emotions research and educational practice.