Emotion, Learning andthe Online Learning

Environment

M. Cleveland-InnesZehra Akyol

Agenda

• Introduction to emotion and learning

• Review of community of inquiry and emotion

• Research on emotion online

• Discussion

• Emotion and Learning SIG Web-site

Emotion and Learning

Barry Kort, Rob Reilly, Rosalind W. Picard, "An Affective Model of Interplay between Emotions and Learning: Reengineering Educational Pedagogy-Building a Learning Companion," icalt, p. 0043,  Second IEEE International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies (ICALT'01),  2001

First principles

If students are to learn desired outcomes in a reasonably effective manner, then the

teacher's fundamental task is to get students to engage in learning activities that are likely

to result in their achieving those outcomes . . . . .

Schuell 1986

Engagement

“the time and energy devoted to educationally sound activities inside and outside of the classroom”

Kuh, 2003

Student centred

“the learner is at the centre of curricular and instructional

design”

McCoombs, 1990

Interaction

“Formal and informal academic and social interaction with faculty may make a unique

contribution to college impact “

Pascarella & Terenzini, 1991

A bricoleur is one who creates from a diverse range of materials and tools which happen to be available.

The teacher as bricoleur makes a series of professional judgments about how to teach.

The online teacher as bricoleur makes a series of professional judgments about how to teach using the diverse

range of material and tools available..

Online teacher as bricoleur

emotion is present; observe, acknowledge, support

Plutchick, 2003; Stets & Turner, 2006;

Wosnitzaq & Volet, 2005

emotion plays a role in human reason

Damasio, 1994; leDoux, 1996

emotion can not be considered separate from learning environments

Brookfield, 2006; Lipman, 2003

Community of Inquiry Framework

Social PresenceThe ability of participantsto identify with the community (e.g., course of study), communicate purposefully in a trusting environment, and develop inter-personal relationships by way of projecting their individual personalities.

Cognitive PresenceThe extent to which learners are able to construct and confirm meaning through sustained reflection and discourse in a critical community of inquiry.

Teaching PresenceThe design, facilitation and direction of cognitive and social processes for the purpose of realizing personally meaningful and educationally worthwhile learning outcomes

Elements, Categories & Indicators

ELEMENTS CATEGORIES INDICATORS

(examples only)

Social Presence Open Communication Learning climate/risk-free expression Group Cohesion Group identity/collaboration Personal/Affective Self projection/expressing emotions Cognitive Presence Triggering Event Sense of puzzlement Exploration Information exchange Integration Connecting ideas Resolution Appling new ideas Teaching Presence Design & Organization Setting curriculum & methods Facilitating Discourse Shaping constructive exchange Direct Instruction Focusing and resolving issues

Community of Inquiry

The model is thoroughly social and communal ….. …. a method for integrating emotive experience, mental acts , thinking skills, and informal fallacies into a concerted approach to the improvement of reasoning and judgment.

Lipman, 2003

….. is defined as "the ability of participants in a community of inquiry to project themselves socially and emotionally, as ‘real’ people (i.e. their full personality), through the medium of communication being used”

Social Presence

7/15 social expressions corresponded significantly to more positive ratings of the social environment.

• addressing others by name• complimenting• expressing appreciation• using the reply feature to post messages• expressing emotions• using humor• salutations.

Rourke & Anderson, 2000

How emotional is the social ?

emotion is present in online learning communities

Campbell & Cleveland-Innes, 2006; Derks, Fischer & Bos, 2007; O’Regan, 2003; Lehman, 2006;

Perry & Edwards, 2005

Delight Emphasis Excitement Yearning Passion Desire / hope Unhappiness Humor

Pride Enjoyment Like Dislike Thankfulness Appreciation Preference Irony / sarcasm

• Emotion was expressed when connecting with other students.

• I felt comfortable expressing emotion through the online medium.

• Expressing emotion in relation to expressing ideas was acceptable in this course.

• I found myself responding emotionally about ideas or learning activities in this course.

• The instructor acknowledged emotion expressed by students.

• The instructor demonstrated emotion in online presentations and/or discussions.

social presence

Emotion was expressed when connecting with other students. I felt comfortable expressing emotion through the online medium.

.665

.645

teaching presence

The instructor acknowledged emotion expressed by students. I found myself responding emotionally about ideas/learning activities in this course. The instructor demonstrated emotion in online presentations and/or discussions

cognitive presence

Expressing emotion in relation to discussing ideas was acceptable in this course.

• .668

• 591

• .573

• .420

Integral Emotional Presence

Emotion and Teaching

“From brain research we know now that when we get emotional about a task we are involved in learning. Brain research has confirmed that emotions are linked to learning by assisting us in recall of memories that are stored in our central nervous system. ““Practically speaking, this means as designers and educators need to create places that are not only safe to learn, but also spark some emotional interest through celebrations and rituals.”

Fielding, 2006

…. COI model does allude to some aspects of instructor humanness, especially in the social presence component, perhaps there is room in this model for a more specific emphasis on the emotional presence. How can one have a true community without some aspect of emotional attachment or involvement in the lives of those who share that communal space?

Perry & Edwards, 2005

Affective: instructors comfortable expressing positive emotions online; most would endeavour to avoid expressing negative emotions.

Emotion: can both support and hinder learning, e.g., anxiety, frustration can hinder experience; excitement, satisfaction can enhance.

AU Instructors and those trained as “dispassionate observers” less likely to attend to EP

INSTRUCTOR VIEWS

Instructors can model emotional response (Brookfield, 2006), explain its role in the instructor’s own learning (Kort, Reilly & Picard, 2001), teach how to bring emotion to consciousness and make use of the emotional state in a learning situation (Campbell & Cleveland-Innes, 2005).

Cleveland-Innes, 2008