Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Examining emotional expressions in discourse: methodological considerations

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Cultural Studies of Science Education Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This methodological paper presents an approach for examining emotional expressions through discourse analysis and ethnographic methods. Drawing on trends in the current literature in science education, we briefly explain the importance of emotions in science education and examine the current research methodologies used in interactional emotion studies. We put forth and substantiate a methodological approach that attends to the interactional, contextual, intertextual, and consequential aspects of emotional expressions. By examining emotional expressions in the discourse in which they are constructed, emotional expressions are identified through semantics, contextualization, and linguistic features. These features make salient four dimensions of emotional expressions: aboutness, frequency, type, and ownership. Drawing on data from a large empirical study of pre-service elementary teachers’ emotional expressions about climate change in a science course, we provide illustrative examples to describe what counts as emotional expressions in situ. In doing so we explain how our approach makes salient the nuanced nature of such expressions as well as the broader discourse in which they are constructed and the implications for researching emotional expressions in science education discourse. We suggest reasons why this discourse orientated research methodology can contribute to the interactional study of emotions in science education contexts.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Anderhag, P., Hamza, K. M., & Wickman, P.-O. (2015). What can a teacher do to support students’ interest in science? A study of the constitution of taste in a science classroom. Research in Science Education, 45, 749–784. doi:10.1007/s11165-014-9448-4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barrett, L. F. (2006). Solving the emotional paradox: Categorization and the experience of emotion. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 10, 20–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bazerman, C. (2006). Analyzing the multidimensionality of texts. In J. L. Green, G. Camilli, & P. B. Elmore (Eds.), Handbook of complementary methods in education research (pp. 77–94). Washington, DC: American Educational Research Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bellocchi, A. (2015). Methods for sociological inquiry on emotion in educational settings. Emotion Review, 7, 151–156. doi:10.1177/1754073914554775.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bellocchi, A., Quigley, C., & Otrel-Cass, K. (2017). Emotions, aesthetics and wellbeing in science education: Theoretical foundations. In A. Bellocchi, C. Quigley, & K. Otrel-Cass (Eds.), Exploring emotions, aesthetics and wellbeing in science education research (pp. 1–6). Berlin: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-43353-0.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Bellocchi, A., & Ritchie, S. M. (2015). “I was proud of myself that I didn’t give up and I did it”: Experiences of pride and triumph in learning science. Science Education, 99, 638–668. doi:10.1002/sce.21159.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bellocchi, A., Ritchie, S. M., Tobin, K., King, D., Sandhu, M., & Henderson, S. (2014). Emotional climate and high quality learning experiences in science teacher education. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 51, 1301–1325. doi:10.1002/tea.21170.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boler, M. (1999). Feeling power: Emotions and education. New York, NY: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Broughton, S., Sinatra, G., & Nussbaum, E. (2013). “Pluto has been a planet my whole life!” Emotions, attitudes, and conceptual change in elementary students’ learning about pluto’s reclassification. Research in Science Education, 43, 529–550. doi:10.1007/s11165-011-9274-x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castano, C. (2008). Socio-scientific discussions as a way to improve the comprehension of science and the understanding of the interrelation between species and the environment. Research in Science Education, 38, 565–587. doi:10.1007/s11165-007-9064-7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collins, R. (2004). Interaction ritual chains. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Ekman, P., & Friesen, W. V. (1978). Manual for the facial action coding system, part II. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Emerson, R. M., Fretz, R. I., & Shaw, L. L. (1995). Writing ethnographic fieldnotes. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Gee, J. P., & Green, J. L. (1998). Discourse analysis, learning, and social practice: a methodological study. Review of Research in Education, 23, 119–169.

    Google Scholar 

  • Green, J. L. (1983). Research on teaching as a linguistic process: a state of the art. Review of Research in Education, 10, 151–252. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/1167138

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Green, J., Skukauskaite, A., Dixon, C., & Córdova, R. (2007). Epistemological issues in the analysis of video records: interactional ethnography as a logic of inquiry. In R. Goldman, R. Pea, B. Barron, & S. Derry (Eds.), Video research in the learning sciences (pp. 115–132). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gumperz, J. (1982). Discourse strategies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hascher, T. (2010). Learning and emotion: perspectives for theory and research. European Educational Research Journal, 9, 13–28. doi:10.2304/eerj.2010.9.1.13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hufnagel, E. (2014). How preservice elementary teachers express emotions about climate change and related disciplinary ideas. Doctoral dissertation. Retrieved from Penn State electronic theses and dissertations https://etda.libraries.psu.edu/catalog/21448

  • Hufnagel, E. (2015). Preservice elementary teachers’ emotional connections and disconnections to climate change in a science course. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 52, 1296–1324. doi:10.1002/tea.21245.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hufnagel, E. (2017). Attending to emotional expressions about climate change: a framework for teaching and learning. In D. Shepardson, A. Roychoudhury, & A. Hirsch (Eds.), Teaching and learning about climate change: A framework for educators. New York: Routledge.

  • Jaber, L. Z. (2016). Attending to students’ epistemic affect. In A. D. Robertson, R. E. Scherr, & D. Hammer (Eds.), Responsive teaching in science and mathematics (pp. 162–188). New York, NY: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kelly, G. J. (2007). Discourse in science classrooms. In S. K. Abell & N. G. Lederman (Eds.), Handbook of research on science education (pp. 443–469). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kelly, G. J. (2014). Discourse practices in science learning and teaching. In N. G. Lederman & S. K. Abell (Eds.), Handbook of research in science education (Vol. 2, pp. 321–336). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kelly, G. J. (2016). Methodological considerations for the study of epistemic cognition in practice. In J. A. Greene, W. A. Sandoval, & I. Braten (Eds.), Handbook of epistemic cognition (pp. 393–408). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kelly, G. J., Brown, C., & Crawford, T. (2000a). Experiments, contingencies, and curriculum: providing opportunities for learning through improvisation in science teaching. Science Education, 84, 624–657.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kelly, G. J., & Chen, C. (1999). The sound of music: Constructing science as sociocultural practices through oral and written discourse. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 36, 883–915.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kelly, G. J., Chen, C., & Prothero, W. (2000b). The epistemological framing of a discipline: writing science in university oceanography. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 37, 691–718.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keltner, D., & Gross, J. J. (1999). Functional accounts of emotions. Cognition and Emotion, 13, 467–480. doi:10.1080/026999399379140.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leander, K., & Prior, P. (2004). Speaking and writing: how talk and text interact in situated practices. In C. Bazerman & P. Prior (Eds.), What writing does and how it does it: An introduction to analyzing texts and textual practices (pp. 201–237). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lombardi, D., & Sinatra, G. (2013). Emotions about teaching about human-induced climate change. International Journal of Science Education, 35, 167–191. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09500693.2012.738372

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lutz, C. A., & Abu-Lughod, L. (1990). Introduction: emotion, discourse, and the politics of everyday life. In C. A. Lutz & L. Abu-Lughod (Eds.), Language and the politics of emotion (pp. 1–23). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mesquita, B., & Albert, D. (2007). The cultural regulation of emotions. In J. J. Gross (Ed.), Handbook of emotion regulation. New York, NY: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Milne, C., & Otieno, T. (2007). Understanding engagement: science demonstrations and emotional energy. Science Education, 91, 523–553.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • National Research Council. (2012). A framework for K-12 science education: practices, crosscutting concepts, and core ideas. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oatley, K. (1993). Social constructions of emotions. In M. Lewis & J. M. Haviland (Eds.), Handbook of emotions (pp. 341–352). New York, NY: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Olitsky, S. (2007). Promoting student engagement in science: interaction rituals and the pursuit of a community of practice. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 44, 33–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Osbeck, L. M., Nersessian, N. J., Malone, K. R., & Newstetter, W. C. (2011). Science as psychology: sense-making and identity in social practice. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ritchie, S. M., Hudson, P., Bellocchi, A., Henderson, S., King, D., & Tobin, K. (2016). Evolution of self-reporting methods for identifying discrete emotions in science classrooms. Cultural Studies of Science Education, 11, 577–593. doi:10.1007/s11422-014-9607-y.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rivera Maulucci, M. S. (2013). Emotions and positional identity in becoming a social justice science teacher: Nicole’s story. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 50, 453–478.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shields, S. A. (2002). Speaking from the heart. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sinatra, G. M., Broughton, S., & Lombardi, D. (2014). Emotions in science education. In R. Pekrun & L. Linnenbrink-Garcia (Eds.), International handbook of emotions in education (pp. 415–436). New York, NY: Taylor & Francis.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spradley, J. P. (1980). Participant observation. Orlando, FL: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tobin, K., & Llena, R. (2014). Emotions as mediators of science education in an urban high school. In K. Tobin & A. Shady (Eds.), Transforming urban education: Urban teachers and students working collaboratively (pp. 205–223). Rotterdam: Sense Publishers. doi:10.1007/978-94-6209-563-2_13.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Tobin, K., Ritchie, S. M., Oakley, J. L., Mergard, V., & Hudson, P. (2013). Relationships between emotional climate and the fluency of classroom interactions. Learning Environments Research, 16, 71–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wickman, P.-O. (2006). Aesthetic experience in science education: learning and meaning-making as situated talk and action. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wickman, P.-O. (2017). Back to the drawing board: examining the philosophical foundations of educational research on aesthetics and emotions. In A. Bellocchi, C. Quigley, & K. Otrel-Cass (Eds.), Exploring emotions, aesthetics and wellbeing in science education research (pp. 9–37). Berlin: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-43353-0.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Wickman, P. O., & Östman, L. (2002). Learning as discourse change: a sociocultural mechanism. Science Education, 86, 601–623. doi:10.1002/sce.10036.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Winslow, M. W., Staver, J. R., & Scharmann, L. C. (2011). Evolution and personal religious belief: Christian university biology-related majors’ search for reconciliation. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 48, 1026–1049. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3108467

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wortham, S. (2003). Curriculum as a resource for the development of social identity. Sociology of Education, 76, 228–246.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zembylas, M. (2002). Constructing genealogies of teachers’ emotions in science teaching. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 39, 79–103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zembylas, M. (2004a). Emotion metaphors and emotional labor in science teaching. Science Education, 88, 301–324.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zembylas, M. (2004b). Young children’s emotional practices while engaged in long-term science investigation. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 41, 693–719. doi:10.1002/tea.20023.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zembylas, M. (2016). Making sense of the complex entanglement between emotion and pedagogy: contributions of the affective turn. Cultural Studies of Science Education, 11, 539–550. doi:10.1007/s11422-014-9623-y.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Maine, Orono, ME, USA

    Elizabeth Hufnagel

  2. The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, USA

    Gregory J. Kelly

Authors
  1. Elizabeth Hufnagel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Gregory J. Kelly
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Elizabeth Hufnagel.

Additional information

Lead editor: A. Bellocchi

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Hufnagel, E., Kelly, G.J. Examining emotional expressions in discourse: methodological considerations. Cult Stud of Sci Educ 13, 905–924 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-017-9806-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-017-9806-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation