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Affect graphing: leveraging graphical representations in the study of students’ affect in mathematics

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Abstract

Affect (e.g., beliefs, attitudes, emotions) plays a crucial role in mathematics learning, but reliance on verbal and written responses (from surveys, interviews, etc.) limits students’ expression of their affective states. As a complement to existing methods that rely on verbal reports, we explore how graphing can be used to study affect during mathematical experiences. We analyze three studies that used graphing to represent, stimulate recall, and reflect on affect. In each, students were asked to draw their perception of an affective construct, such as confidence or intensity of emotion, against time. The studies differed in participant populations, target affect, timescales of participant experience, and structural features of the graphs. The affordances of graphing include reduced dependence on verbal data, temporal ordering of participants’ recollections, explicit representation of change over time, and the creation of objects (the graph) for discussion. These studies as examples show that well-structured graphing can productively supplement existing methods for studying affect in mathematics education, as a different medium through which students can communicate their experience.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Kevin Voogt and Theresa Grant, as co-authors on the first and third studies, respectively, referenced within, and the CREATE for STEM Institute for supporting our early work.

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Available upon email request.

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Not applicable.

Funding

We received a mini-grant from the CREATE for STEM Institute at Michigan State University, to support early stages of the first study referenced here.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mathematics & Applied Mathematics, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA

    V. Rani Satyam

  2. School of Mathematical & Statistical Sciences, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Brownsville, TX, USA

    Younggon Bae

  3. Dept. of Counseling, Educational Psychology & Special Education, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA

    John P. Smith III

  4. Department of Mathematics, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI, USA

    Mariana Levin

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  1. V. Rani Satyam
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This work references three studies, each involving different subsets of the author team (some with additional colleagues not on this author team). In terms of author contribution, Study 1 involved the entire author team, and this section was written by John P. Smith III and Younggon Bae. Study 2 and its section was written by V. Rani Satyam. Study 3 and its section was written by Mariana Levin.

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Correspondence to V. Rani Satyam.

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Satyam, V.R., Bae, Y., Smith, J.P. et al. Affect graphing: leveraging graphical representations in the study of students’ affect in mathematics. Educ Stud Math 110, 481–501 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-021-10131-3

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