Uncovering the Role of Emotion in Engineering Education within an Integrated Curricular Experience

Abstract

Abstract The Role of Emotion in Student Learning within an Integrated Curricular ExperienceThe purpose of this paper is to uncover the role of emotion within an integrated curricularexperience (published elsewhere) and how emotion impacts student learning. Preliminary dataanalysis indicates that emotions were often present during student’s critical learning incidents.This qualitative research study involves a deeper analysis of data collected over two semesters ofan interdisciplinary design studio to identify the types of emotions described, the triggers ofthese emotions, and the learning that the students attributed to these emotions.Recently there has been an increase in the amount of research exploring emotions in education(Schutz & Pekrun, 2007). Furthermore, there have been recent developments in neurosciencethat point to emotion’s critical role in learning and decision-making (Immordino-Yang &Damasio, 2007). As engineering educators this recent research on the role of emotion ineducation is very relevant to us as we are preparing engineering graduates to make decisions andto contribute to some of the world’s most pressing problems. Any engineering educatorintuitively knows the role of emotion in teaching. For example, when an experienced instructorasks a question, he or she knows that by waiting through the uncomfortable silence after asking aquestion, students will begin to share responses to that question. There is, however, a lack ofresearch and discussion of the role of emotion within engineering education. To address thislack of research, a multi-dimensional model of affect that takes into account the intersection ofactivation and pleasantness will be described and will provide the framework for the discussionof emotion in the remaining paper (Linnenbrink, 2007).This study involves examining emotions, triggers, and learning from the student perspectivewithin the context of an interdisciplinary, project-based design studio as implemented in 2009and 2010. This qualitative research study consisted of an interpretive analysis of individualreflection reports written by each student after participating in multiple reflective activities overthe course of one semester. The authors used a phenomenological approach to the analysis ofthis data and thus focused the analysis to the structural descriptions (what happened, from thestudent’s perspective) and the textural descriptions (how this happened and how it contributed totheir learning).The analysis of this data indicates that emotions at the high end of the activation spectrum, forexample angry, tense, and excited, were described by the students as leading to critical learningincidents. The triggers described include ambiguous, open-ended projects, debates, and the orderof presentation of workshops within the scope of the project timeline and will be described inmore detail in the full paper. Based on these results, the authors will also discuss thecharacteristics of the integrated curricula that align with high activation emotions that could betransferred to other curricula.Note to reviewers: This could be either a traditional paper presentation or could be the basis for amore innovative session/ workshop type format. For example, we could have the attendeescreate a stop-motion animation video explaining their understanding of an integrated curricula(or something from the class) and then reflect on our emotions and learning throughout theactivity.ReferencesImmordino-Yang, M. H., & Damasio, A. (2007). We Feel, Therefore We Learn: The Relevance of Affective and Social Neuroscience to Education. Mind, Brain, and Education, 1(1), 3- 10.Linnenbrink, E. A. (2007). The Role of Affect in Student Learning: A Multi-Dimensional Approach to Considering the Interaction of Affect, Motivation, and Engagement. In P. A. Schutz & R. Pekrun (Eds.), Emotion in Education (pp. 107-124). New York: Elsevier.Schutz, P. A., & Pekrun, R. (Eds.). (2007). Emotion in Education (1 ed.). New York: Elsevier.