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The link between achievement emotions, appraisals, and task performance: pedagogical considerations for emotions in CBLEs

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Abstract

Achievement emotions have a powerful influence on how students interact with current and future learning and performance tasks. As such, pedagogical practices that support adaptive student emotions are critical for teaching and learning in computer-based learning environments (CBLEs). This research investigates the relationship between during-task achievement emotions and participants’ appraisals of task control, value, perceived performance, and actual performance outcomes on a diagnostic reasoning task with a CBLE, BioWorld. Based on the emotions participants reported experiencing during the task, we found that participants could be organized into three groups using a k-means cluster analysis: a positive, negative, and low emotion group. Participants assigned to the positive emotion group had the highest subjective appraisals of task value, task control, and the highest perceived performance; however, these participants had lower levels of actual performance when compared to learners assigned to the low emotion cluster and had actual performance levels comparable to learners in the negative emotion cluster. These results provide preliminary evidence for fostering low emotionality rather than positive emotionality with pedagogical interventions in order to support better performance outcomes, while learners engage in academic achievement tasks in CBLEs.

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Notes

  1. With the exception of boredom which can be experienced when there is no perceived value and high or low levels of control.

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Acknowledgments

The research presented in this paper has been supported by a Doctoral fellowship from Richard H. Tomlinson (through McGill University) and a Doctoral Canadian Graduate Scholarship from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) awarded to the first author. This research has also been supported by a Canadian Fund for Innovation and a Canada Research Chair grant awarded to Dr. Susanne P. Lajoie and a SSHRC partnership grant, headed by Dr. Susanne P. Lajoie. The authors would also like to thank Maher Chaouachi, Tenzin Doleck, Melissa Duffy, Maedeh Kazemi, Philippe Latour, Lila Lee, Laura Pipe, and Tara Tressel for assistance with data collection.

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  1. Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, McGill University, 3700 McTavish Street 614, Montréal, QC, H3A 1Y2, Canada

    Amanda Jarrell & Susanne P. Lajoie

  2. Department of Educational Psychology, University of Alberta, 6-102 Education North, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2G5, Canada

    Jason M. Harley

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Correspondence to Amanda Jarrell.

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Jarrell, A., Harley, J.M. & Lajoie, S.P. The link between achievement emotions, appraisals, and task performance: pedagogical considerations for emotions in CBLEs. J. Comput. Educ. 3, 289–307 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40692-016-0064-3

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