Achievement Emotions Research Articles

Cognitive appraisals as mediators of the relationship between digital technology use and students' achievement emotions in science and mathematics subjects

Cognitive appraisals as mediators of the relationship between digital technology use and students' achievement emotions in science and mathematics subjects

Insights on Learning-Related Emotions from Hispanic Undergraduates at an Urban University Transitioning from In-Person to Online Instruction at the Start of the COVID-19 Pandemic

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic caused an unprecedented educational disruption in institutions throughout the United States and the world. Research shows that such disruptions have a disproportionately negative impact on ethnic minorities. Researchers at a federally designated Minority- and Hispanic-serving four-year university deployed the Achievement Emotions Questionnaire (AEQ) during the Spring 2020 semester to measure undergraduates’ (n = 144) learning-related emotions immediately following the rapid shift and reorientation from face-to-face to online learning. Compared to published instrument norms, data revealed that respondents (74% Latinx) experienced lower negative and higher positive emotions than pre-COVID peers. This research sheds light on the academic experiences and emotions of undergraduate students, mostly ethnic minorities, during the early months of the pandemic.

Beyond cognition: The relation between parents’ reading-related activities and reading-related achievement emotions in Chinese students

Beyond cognition: The relation between parents’ reading-related activities and reading-related achievement emotions in Chinese students

Academic emotions, college adjustment, and dropout intention in university students

IntroductionIn recent years, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the entrance and development of university life has become a complex process, making it relevant to investigate which variables could facilitate the adaptation of young people to university. This study aimed to analyze academic emotions and their prediction of university adaptation and intention to drop out.MethodsThe study was quantitative, explanatory, and cross-sectional. A total of 295 university students participated. Academic emotions were assessed with the short version of The Achievement Emotions Questionnaire, adaptation to university life with the reduced version of the Student Adjustment to College Questionnaire, and intention to drop out with three items designed to measure this variable.ResultsDifferences were identified in the emotions experienced during classes and study by students according to the year of entry. We found that males report experiencing emotions such as enjoyment and hope more during evaluations.DiscussionGenerally, students report positive emotions in their academic experience. Positive emotions predict adaptation to university life and the intention to study.

Portraits of Scientific Inquiry and Scientific Literacy Skills Development in Students

Parental involvement generally occurs in elementary school and begins to diminish in middle school. Enlisting parental involvement in high school science is particularly challenging given parents tend to lack their own competencies in terms of scientific knowledge while simultaneously beginning to afford students increased independence. Research was conducted for employing active, meaningful constructivist-grounded parental involvement in high school science. Students participated in constructivist science learning activities with parents that utilized a facet of involvement strategies and socially supportive practices. Parents actively participated and communicated with students during science investigations via collaborative inquiry-based activities, self-assessments, and dialogue journaling. Parents and students participated in interviews, surveys, and questionnaires, as well as maintained dialogue journals for identifying themes. Triangulation of data identified the most effective strategies for involving parents in science learning and the impact of involvement on the development of student scientific inquiry and scientific literacy skills. Data indicated an increase in the development of scientific inquiry and scientific literacy skills in both parents and students, as well as student social, emotional achievement.

Identifying the role of emotional intelligence in achievement emotions and their effects on deep learning strategies in university students

Emotional skills have been proposed as distal determinants of achievement emotions. However, the specific role they play in such emotions and their effects on learning has not been defined. The purpose of this comparative study is to provide an ex post facto assessment of emotional intelligence (EI) as a predictor of the enjoyment and anger expressed while studying and as a mediator and/or moderator of its effects on the use of deep learning strategies. A sample comprising 603 university students (85.7% women; Mage=25.16, SDage = 8.42) completed the Trait Meta-Mood State 24 to assess perceived EI, the Achievement Emotions Questionnaire-AEQ for enjoyment and anger, and the Deep Learning Strategies Questionnaire. The stepwise regression, multiple mediation, and moderation analyses conducted showed that EI explains enjoyment and anger, although its different skills predict them differently. Enjoyment increases the use of deep learning strategies, an effect that is partially mediated by emotional repair. In anger there is less use of these strategies, and this effect is partially mediated by high emotional attention with little emotional clarity and repair. Similarly, a medium and high level of EI moderates the negative effect of anger on the use of deep learning strategies. These results show the benefits of being emotionally intelligent since it mitigates the negative consequences of negative emotions, stressing the need to teach emotional skills or promote EI in educational and cognitive contexts.

Control–Value Appraisals and Achievement Emotions: A Moderation Analysis

Emotions in second language acquisition have started to gain attention in the past few years. One of the main theories that has been used to investigate students’ achievement emotions is Pekrun’s control–value theory of achievement emotions. This research aims to use the control–value theory to investigate the relationship between control and value appraisals, their interaction, and the effect they have on anxiety, boredom, and enjoyment in the context of SLA. Data were collected from 515 university students enrolled in an English language course whose first language was Arabic. The results of analyzing the data indicated that students’ perceived intrinsic, attainment, and utility value interacted differently with students’ perceived control to affect anxiety, boredom, and enjoyment. The results highlight the role played by intrinsic value in the relationship between control and anxiety and control and enjoyment.

Academic Motivation, Attitudes and Beliefs of Learning Grammar and Emotional Achievement: A Causal Model on Writing Skills

Objectives: To determine the best fit model of the writing skills of Senior High School students.
 Methodology: The respondents were 400 Senior High School students from private schools in Davao City Division, Philippines. The respondents were chosen using stratified random sampling. The data were collected using google forms.
 Results and Discussion: The overall results showed that the respondents had a high level of academic motivation, students' grammar learning attitudes, and beliefs, emotional achievement and writing skills. It also showed a significant relationship between three variables: academic motivation, students' grammar learning attitudes, and beliefs, emotional achievement to writing skills. Among the five models, model 5 best fits the study.
 Recommendations: Based on the results of the study, the researcher proposed the following recommendation: first, focus on raising the level of effort because it got the lowest and the descriptive level is high. This indicates that the students do not have enough academic motivation to write. Second, since speaking grammar has reached a high descriptive level, concentrate on improving the level of grammar and reading, grammar and listening, grammatical classroom work, and speaking grammar in particular. It simply indicates that the four markers of pupils' grammar learning behavior and attitudes are weak. Lastly, because the obtained descriptive level is high, raising the students' emotional acquisition level in the indicators connected to emotions in the classroom, related emotions to learning, and related emotions to the exam. In the future, this needs to be prioritized and given greater attention in order to better develop kids' emotional intelligence and writing abilities. As a result, the study suggests that educators devise plans, exercises, and other techniques to help pupils integrate emotions into their academic work. The development of organizations that are nurtured in the stabilization of kids' emotions will be intensified among school administrators.

Effects of two types of numerical problems on the emotions experienced in adults and in 9-year-old children.

It is widely acknowledged that emotions and cognition are closely related, and that negative emotions are detrimental on school achievement, especially on mathematical performance. On the other hand, positive emotions have a positive impact on motivation and cognitive abilities underlying the learning processes. Nevertheless, studies about the effects of experienced emotions on problem solving, a specific type of mathematical activity, are sparse. The present research focuses on experienced epistemic and achievement emotions after the resolution of two types of numerical word problems: the application problems, that requires the use of a specific and expected algorithm to be solved and are regularly proposed at school; and the non-application problems, which cannot be solved directly but using different solving strategies. This type of numerical word problems appears less frequently in French school curricula. In experiment 1, 105 adults (M = 24.4 years), of which the majority was university students, were involved in an online experiment with APs and NAPs problems and were asked to rate their experienced emotions after the resolution of the problems. In experiment 2, 65 children aged 9-year-old were asked to individually solve APs and NAPs problems with age-appropriate difficulty and then rate their associated emotions. The adults' sample reported higher epistemic and achievement positive emotions towards APs compared to NAPs. In both adults and children NAPs were more associated to surprise than APs. In children anxiety was more experienced after resolution of NAPs than APs. Results suggest the importance of varying the types of problems proposed in school curricula so that children become accustomed to using different solving strategies. This approach could be useful in decreasing negative emotions toward mathematics such as anxiety, which begins to settle as early as elementary school.

Achievement emotions predict transfer student academic success

Transfer students comprise half of all undergraduate students, yet their educational experiences may differ in meaningful ways from those of traditional students. Importantly, the transfer student population is diverse and not monolithic. Achievement emotions, which occur in an iterative pattern with past experiences informing current and future emotions, are particularly understudied within the transfer population. This survey study (N = 721) examines how diverse transfer students’ enjoyment and anxiety achievement emotions relate to GPA and term-to-term persistence. Results of the study showed that both anxiety and enjoyment emotions predicted term GPA and persistence for transfer students. However, when controlling for anxiety emotions, enjoyment emotions were no longer a significant predictor. These relations differed across demographic groups. Achievement emotions are an integral part of transfer students’ experiences in higher education, creating opportunities for institutions to improve their students’ educational outcomes.

Changes in control and value appraisals predict changes in learning enjoyment: A four-wave analysis among lower secondary school students.

The control-value theory of achievement emotions postulates that it is possible to affect achievement emotions by decreasing or increasing control and value appraisals. This implies that changes in the latter should result in changes in the former. However, the assumption has been rarely tested. This study aimed at verifying whether changes in control and value appraisals - two proximal antecedents of achievement emotions - predicted changes in learning enjoyment over the course of lower secondary school. Moreover, since studying changes requires knowledge of their overall pattern, it also investigated the developmental trajectories of the three student characteristics. The study used longitudinal data of 5125 German students gathered between Grades 5 and 9, four measurement occasions in total. The hypotheses were tested using univariate and multivariate latent change score models. The analyses revealed decreases in control and value appraisals and learning enjoyment between Grades 5 and 9. Moreover, the decreases in control and value appraisals predicted the decreases in learning enjoyment. The study provides support for the change-change assumption, which is one of the key but under-researched elements of the control-value theory of achievement emotions. As such, it suggests that alleviating the decrease in control and value appraisals may mitigate the decrease in learning enjoyment. Moreover, by providing longitudinal evidence on the decrease in the three constructs under study, it corroborates the inimical trend observed in past research.

Academic Emotions and Regulation Strategies: Interaction with Higher Education Dropout Ideation

(1) Introduction: This article addresses the relationship between students’ emotional experiences—mediated by their regulation strategies—and their intention of dropping out. (2) Materials and Methods: An ad hoc questionnaire was designed based on Pekrun’s Control-Value Theory of Achievement Emotions focusing on three different settings (study, classroom, and exam). Data were collected from 2183 university students. Descriptive, frequency, and correlation analysis were conducted. Also, linear regression analyses and scatter plots were performed. A comparative regression analysis was used with the aim of facilitating the understanding of the mediating effect of emotional regulation strategies. (3) Results: Academic emotions were found to have a significant impact on dropout ideation. The effects of emotional regulation strategies as significant moderators in this relationship were observed, exhibiting variations depending on the context. (4) Discussion: Dropout ideation escalates in the presence of elevated levels of unpleasant emotions and diminished levels of pleasant emotions. The utility of possessing effective emotional regulation strategies becomes evident in mitigating dropout ideation during emotionally challenging academic situations.

Good performance in difficult times? Threat and challenge as contributors to achievement emotions and academic performance during the COVID-19 outbreak.

The COVID-19 pandemic has emerged as one of the most formidable global crises, leading to the disruptions to education systems worldwide and impacting learning attitudes and psychological well-being of various learner groups, including university students. In this context, students' appraisals of adverse learning situations play a key role. It is not just the learning situation, but rather students' appraisal of it which impacts their emotions, attitudes, and behaviors in academic context. The aim of the present study was to investigate how university students' challenge and threat appraisals were related to emotional learning experiences and learning outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the study focuses on the role of personal and external resources for learning in this context. Altogether, 428 students, who attended a Psychology lecture at one Austrian university, filled in a questionnaire about their challenge and threat appraisals of learning circumstances during the COVID-19 pandemic, achievement emotions they experienced during this time as well as gender, proneness to anxiety, academic self-concept, and learning resources. Additionally, students' performance in the examination was recorded. The structural equation model emphasizes a crucial role of challenge and threat appraisals for students' achievement emotions in learning and exam preparation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Challenge appraisals were the strongest predictor for pleasant emotions and threat appraisals were strongest predictor for unpleasant emotions. Proneness to anxiety was related to threat appraisal as well as to experience of more unpleasant and, surprisingly, to positive emotions in adverse learning situation. Academic self-concept and learning resources were identified as important resources for learning in adverse learning situation. Unpleasant achievement emotions were directly and negatively related to academic performance and may thus be seen as a critical variable and crucial obstacle to academic performance. The present study provides implications for learning and instructions which could be implemented by universities in order to support learning and learning attitudes among university students in adverse learning situations.

Factors that impact student frustration in digital learning environments

The use of digital learning technologies and platforms has skyrocketed over the past decade. Although digital materials have many advantages, using them can be frustrating to students. Frustration is a negative achievement emotion that can serve as a barrier to learning. Therefore, understanding how frustration influences student learning and attitudes toward technology can help create more engaging and effective digital learning experiences. Previous research has identified three areas of frustration with academic e-textbooks (e-text frustration): (1) interactions with e-text interface, (2) technical difficulties, and (3) curriculum integration. This study investigated the relationships among e-text frustration and motivational, cognitive, attitudinal, academic, and demographic factors that impact frustration with e-texts in undergraduate biology classes. Extraneous cognitive load and motivation significantly predicted each of the three frustration constituents. Surprisingly, intrinsic cognitive load failed to predict e-text frustration. This study makes an important contribution to emotion research in education by examining the factors that impact learning in digital settings and emotions. Its implications are relevant for educators, researchers, and developers of digital learning materials and environments.

Correlation among game addiction, achievement emotion, and learning motivation: A study of Indonesian youth in the context of e-learning system

This study investigated the correlation between game addiction, achievement emotions, and motivation in the e-learning context. This research collected data through an online questionnaire that briefly explained the study’s aim, demographic questions, the Game Addiction Scale (GAS), the e-Learning Achievement Emotion Questionnaire (eLAEQ), and the e-Learning Motivation Scale (eLMS). 607 high school, undergraduate, and graduate students participated in this study — Data analysis involved the utilization of structural equation modeling. The study findings reveal that game addiction substantially impacts positive and negative emotions and intrinsic and extrinsic learning motivations. Moreover, positive emotions significantly affect intrinsic and extrinsic learning motivations. Conversely, negative emotions have a substantial impact on intrinsic learning motivation but not on extrinsic learning motivation.

Emotion Matters: Understanding the Role of Achievement Emotions in High School Students’ Decision for Tertiary Education

Emotions play an integral role in learning. It is an effective response to a stimulus which can be experienced felt along a positive–negative continuum. Achievement emotions arise from academic activities, and can activate or de-activate educational motivation responses. Based on Control Value Theory, this study examined how negative achievement emotions impact high school students’ decision to pursue tertiary education, and what were the contributing factors of these emotions. One thousand five hundred and forty-seven high school students participated in the survey, and data were solicited via established inventories as well as an open ended question. Quantitatively, Partial Least Squares structural equation modelling found boredom and test anxiety to significantly lower students’ decision to pursue tertiary education. The precursors to negative achievement emotions stem from examinations and assessments, struggle in lessons, learning itself, parental expectations to excel, and mental health issues. Findings demonstrated the potential of emotions in influencing students’ value orientation with respect to tertiary education. As the study is based on a post-pandemic context, implications of findings are discussed in view of the underlying post-pandemic challenges accompanied by recommendation to stakeholders.

A Literature Review on Achievement Emotions in Physical Education Classes Among Chinese Vocational College Students

A Literature Review on Achievement Emotions in Physical Education Classes Among Chinese Vocational College Students

A closer look at teacher support and achievement emotions in Chinese mathematics classrooms: mediating roles of academic control and intrinsic/extrinsic value

This cross-sectional study looks into how students’ perceived teacher support is linked to achievement emotions in mathematics via academic control and value. The data was gathered from 602 secondary students (13-16-year-olds) in 16 mathematics classrooms from three public schools in Jiangsu province, China. Participants were asked to respond to the paper-pencil questionnaire assessing students’ perceived teacher support, cognitive appraisals, and achievement emotions in mathematics. Findings showed that cognitive appraisals played complete mediation roles in teacher support and achievement emotions. Intrinsic value and mathematics self-concept were shown to serve a positive role in teacher support and achievement emotions, whereas extrinsic value was found to play a negative one. Besides, teacher support showed the greatest indirect effect on achievement emotions through mathematics self-concept. Lastly, findings indicated the great relevance of teacher support to students’ anger, boredom, enjoyment and relaxation in mathematics classrooms.

The association between online class-related enjoyment and academic achievement of college students: a multi-chain mediating model

BackgroundBased on the control-value theory of achievement emotion and self-determination motivation theory, this study attempted to examine the multi-chain mediating relationships among online class-related enjoyment, school motivation, learning engagement and academic achievement.MethodsThis is an empirical study based on cross-sectional data. Online class-related enjoyment is the independent variable, academic achievement is the dependent variable, and school motivation and learning engagement are the mediating variables. Sample data were collected from 1294 Chinese college students, and SPSS macro program PROCESS 3.3 was used for data analysis.ResultsThe present study confirmed that students’ online class-related enjoyment has a significant positive correlation with academic achievement. And there is a positive correlation between college students’ school motivation with learning engagement and college students’ learning engagement with academic achievement. In addition, online class-related enjoyment affects academic achievement through the chain mediating effect of school motivation and learning engagement.ConclusionsOur study indicated that online class-related enjoyment has a significant impact on academic achievement. Both of these factors should be considered when determining the optimal multi-chain mediating model for Online Class-related Enjoyment and Academic Achievement of college students.

Language learners’ mindset and their academic engagement in online classrooms: the mediating role of achievement emotions

Language learners’ mindset and their academic engagement in online classrooms: the mediating role of achievement emotions