The relationship between disgust,state-anxiety and motivation during a dissection task

Emotions influence motivation, but emotions, such as disgust, have attracted less attention in learning research. We assessed the influence of disgust measured as trait and specific state component, state anxiety and self-efficacy on intrinsic motivation during the dissection of a fish using a pre-/post-design in science teacher students. Anxiety and disgust had a negative influence on motivation. Students with more experience in dissections reported lower pressure. Anxiety after the lesson was influenced by prior anxiety and by animal reminder disgust. Specific state disgust after the dissection was predicted by prior specific state disgust, core disgust and state anxiety. State anxiety and specific state disgust decreased during the dissection. The future commitment to use dissection at school was solely predicted by interest; competence and pressure failed the significance level marginally.     

Influence of a Dissection Video Clip on Anxiety,Affect, and Self-Efficacy in Educational Dissection: A Treatment Study

In science education, dissections of animals are an integral part of teaching, but they often evoke negative emotions. We aimed at reducing negative emotions (anxiety, negative affect [NA]) and increasing positive affect (PA) and self-efficacy by an experimental intervention using a predissection video to instruct students about fish dissection. We compared this treatment with another group that watched a life history video about the fish. The participants were 135 students studying to become biology teachers. Seventy received the treatment with the dissection video, and 65 viewed the life history video. We applied a pre/posttest treatment-comparison design and used the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), the State–Trait–Anxiety Inventory for State (STAI-S), and a self-efficacy measure three times: before the lesson (pretest), after the film treatment (posttest 1), and after the dissection (posttest 2). The dissection film group scored higher in PA, NA, and state anxiety (STAI-S) after the dissection video treatment and higher in self-efficacy after the dissection. The life history group showed no differences between the pretest and posttest 1. The dissection film has clear benefits—increasing PA and self-efficacy—that come at the cost of higher NA and higher STAI-S.     

Effects of Social Skills Training for Students with an Intellectual Disability

This study examined the effects of a computer‐assisted social skills intervention on the social competence of 73 students with a mild intellectual disability (age range: 11.0 to 15.0) within an experimental and control group design. The experimental group (N= 38) was trained with the I Found a Solution computer‐supported package while the control group (N= 35) worked on computer‐related keyboard and writing skills. The intervention consisted of the computer‐supported program and teacher‐guided work, small‐group discussions and transfer to actual real‐life conflicts. Each student was assessed before and after the training on: teacher‐rated social skills and disruptive behaviour, peer‐rated social acceptance, and self‐rated loneliness. A 2‐way MANOVA with repeated measures (grouping by gender, with pre/post training scores as the repeated measures) revealed that the experimental group increased their different measures of social competence, and the differences between them and the control group were significant following the intervention. However, no significant differences between the experimental and control groups were found in their loneliness experience. Implications for intervention and additional research are discussed.     

THE APPLICATION OF GESTALT METHODS FOR THE REDUCTION OF TEST ANXIETY IN STUDENTS

An experiment applying Gestalt methods to reduce test anxiety in students is described. Test anxiety is seen as a specific and relatively focused fear pattern. Viewed from a Gestalt therapy approach, anxiety is perceived as a process that affects the physiological, emotional, and intellectual components, as well as a non‐differentiative state between present and future.

It was hypothesised that test anxiety could be reduced if students were taught relaxation and other appropriate techniques. Volunteers were assigned to either an experimental or control group and measured “pre and post”, using Spielberger's State‐Trait Anxiety Inventory and a self‐report question. The results, which show a significant difference between the pre and post scores of the experimental group on the A‐State and self‐report scales, indicate that the Gestalt techniques applied were effective in reducing test anxiety.     

The specific relationship between disgust and interest: Relevance during biology class dissections and gender differences

This investigation examined trajectories of interest and disgust related to a biology dissection class. Three hundred and two secondary students completed ratings of disgust sensitivity and individual interest in the topic of the heart approximately one week before a dissection class. States of disgust and interest were recorded before, during, and after the dissection, and again four weeks later. Overall, girls expressed higher disgust sensitivity than boys, but showed similar levels of individual interest in the heart topic. Individual interest was negatively related to feelings of disgust prior to and during the dissection while feelings of disgust at the beginning of the class negatively predicted students’ interest during the dissection. These findings extend knowledge of the interactive influences of students’ affective experiences during a specific curriculum task and provide a complementary perspective to research findings on emotions relating to achievement outcomes.     

情绪调节策略与延迟满足关系的实验研究

为研究情绪调节策略对情绪类型与延迟满足关系影响,采用两种不同情绪类型的视频短片启动大学生产生相应的情绪(积极情绪或消极情绪),比较两种条件下使用认知重评策略与表达抑制策略对紧随其后的延迟满足任务成绩的影响。实验结果表明:积极情绪状态下,认知重评与表达抑制组延迟满足得分差异不显著;消极情绪状态下,认知重评组延迟满足任务得分显著高于表达抑制组。结论:认知重评策略能够有效地改善消极情绪对延迟满足表现的负面影响。     

The Influence of Perceived Disgust on Students’ Motivation and Achievement

There are a wide range of student emotions in academic settings, but apart from emotions such as interest and well-being, disgust is a negative emotion which might be relevant in biology education, for instance, during dissection or when encountering living animals. This paper addresses the issue of situational disgust during a course at the university using living animals and prepared mounts. The course covers a wide range of organisms from protists (e.g. Paramecium) through invertebrates to vertebrates and uses many methods (e.g. microscopy, dissection, and behavioral observations) and specific content (anatomy, structure, and behavior). The dissection of the trout was rated as most disgusting, followed by working with living woodlice, living earthworms, and living snails. The least disgusting lessons were those dealing with microscopy, mammalian skulls, honeybee dance, and bird flight. Based on animals, macro-invertebrates were rated as most disgusting and mammals as least disgusting. Concerning methods, observing through a microscope was perceived as being least disgusting, followed by experiments without animals, then followed by experiments with living animals and, most disgusting, dissection. Disgust was correlated negatively with interest, well-being, and competence but positively with pressure and boredom. Thus, low disgust is related to high interest, well-being, and competence, while higher disgust is related to higher pressure and boredom. The results show a need for measuring situational disgust in addition to survey studies. They also suggest that perceived disgust negatively affects intrinsic motivation. This has implications for biology teaching, because carrying out dissections or experiencing living animals in the classroom may have a detrimental effect on motivation.     

Mathematics-related emotions among Finnish adolescents across different performance levels

This study examined the relation of mathematics performance and gender with seven mathematics-related emotions (enjoyment, pride, anger, anxiety, shame, hopelessness and boredom) among adolescents. Using strict and lenient mathematics performance cut-off scores, respective groups of adolescents with mathematics difficulties (MD, n = 136), low (LA, n = 166) and typical mathematics performance (TA, n = 1056) were identified. Our results revealed that the MD group reported more shame than the LA group. The MD group also reported more negative emotions and less positive emotions than the TA group, with the exception of boredom, for which there was no statistically significant difference. The interaction effect between mathematics performance group and gender on emotions was significant. Only females with MD showed significantly higher levels of hopelessness and shame than females with LA, while males with LA even reported more boredom than males with MD. Concerning gender differences, males reported slightly more pride and enjoyment than females. However, the direction and magnitude of the gender differences showed great variance among mathematics performance groups. The practical implications of the results are discussed.     

The Effects on Retention of Programed Classroom Reviews

Abstract

A group of 150 high-school students were taught introductory vector geometry by either programmed instruction or conventional teacher-directed methods. A measure of anxiety was taken for all subjects; also pretest and posttest measures of competence in vector geometry. Otis-Gamma scores were used to index intelligence. A significant negative correlation was observed between the total group anxiety level and Otis-Gamma scores. The correlations of the individual mode of instruction groups to Otis-Gamma scores were not significantly different from each other. Analysis of Covariance indicated no significant relationship between mode of instruction and learning; level of anxiety and learning; and learning and interaction of anxiety and mode of instruction. Trends were observed that indicate that more experimentation with larger populations and longer periods of instruction by programmed learning devices might prove fruitful.     

ADOLESCENTS' COMPREHENSION AND CONTENT AREA EDUCATION STUDENTS' PERCEPTIONS: BENEFITS FROM ONE-ON-ONE TUTORING

In this research study the authors analyzed the effectiveness of content-area education students tutoring adolescents and documented changes in the attitudes of the education students over time. Tutors tested the reading comprehension of both the students they tutored (treatment group) and students they did not (comparison group). The authors used a repeated measures ANOVA to evaluate the effects of the tutorial program on reading for the two groups. The dependent variable was pre- and post-reading scores as measured by the Bader Reading & Language Inventory for both groups. The main effect was significant for the tutored group. In addition, the authors utilized the “preservice teachers' perception/attitude survey” using a Likert scale to document changes in the attitudes of the education students toward implementing literacy strategies within their content areas. To test the effects of the semester-long experience, the authors employed a repeated measures ANOVA to determine significance between the pre/post means. The authors' findings revealed that the semester's experience had a significant impact on the tutors' attitude mean; however, no significant differences pre to post were found among the various content majors.     

Reduction in State Anxiety Scores of Freshmen through a Course in Career Decision

A total of 112 Taiwanese junior college freshmen, assigned to an experimental group (N=59) and a control group (N=62), responded to the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. After they had participated in a career education course the experimental group scores on state anxiety decreased. An analysis of variance of the state anxiety scores yielded two main significant effects (group and trait anxiety) and a two-way interaction was found with trait anxiety and group. There was clear support for the importance of the career education course. The results and implications for continuing research are discussed.     

The Effects of a Strategic Writing Program for Students with and without Learning Disabilities in Inclusive Fifth‐Grade Classes

The purpose of this study was to test the effects of a comprehensive writing program for students with and without learning disabilities (LD) in inclusive general education classrooms. The program incorporated research‐based components including instruction in a prewriting planning strategy, narrative text structure, writing strategies, and the process approach to writing. The study was conducted in five fifth‐grade inclusive classrooms with 113 students (including 14 students with LD). A quasi‐experimental comparison‐group design was utilized, whereby three intact experimental classes received the writing intervention, and two intact comparison classes received traditional writing instruction. Measures included several writing indicators as well as state writing competency test scores. Results indicated that the students with and without LD in the experimental group made significant gains from pretest to posttest on several writing measures. Although students in the comparison group made some gains, the gains were related to fewer measures than the measures associated with experimental‐group gains, and the effect sizes were smaller.     

Effects of instruction and stage-fright on intelligence testing

In the present research, it was tried to unravel the influence of various types of instruction on test anxiety levels and, in turn, its influence on intelligence test performance. Three types of instruction were compared: a stressful, achievement-orientated instruction; a reassuring, task-orientated instruction; and an ambiguous instruction. Before the instruction, trait anxiety was measured with the trait version of the state-trait anxiety questionnaire and negative fear of failure with a standard questionnaire. Within each instructional condition, there were two test sessions with four intelligence tests each. Before each session, state anxiety was measured with the state version of the state-trait anxiety questionnaire and test anxiety with a standard test anxiety questionnaire. It turns out that state anxiety and test anxiety do not increase more rapidly as a function of anxiety disposition under stressful conditions compared with reassuring conditions. As in previous research, stage-fright effects were observed in the sense that repeated measures of state anxiety and test anxiety showed a decline of average anxiety levels.     

Analysis of Pre‐test‐Post‐test Control Group Designs in Educational Research

Pre‐test‐post‐test control group designs are well suited to investigating effects of educational innovations and are common in educational research. They are frequently analysed by means of an ANOVA on change scores, or, what amounts to the same thing, a repeated measures ANOVA to test the treatment by occasion interaction. Although the analysis of change scores has intuitive appeal, such analyses are often inappropriate. An ANCOVA on post‐test scores, with pre‐test scores as co‐variate usually provides a more appropriate and informative analysis. Advantages of the ANCOVA approach are explained and illustrated using SPSS‐X analyses of fabricated data sets.     

Controlling response shift bias: the use of the retrospective pre‐test design in the evaluation of a master's programme

Traditionally the measures used to evaluate the impact of an educational programme on student outcomes and the extent to which students change is a comparison of the student's pre‐test scores with his/her post‐test scores. However, this method of evaluating change may be problematic due to the confounding factor of response shift bias when student self‐reports of change are used. Response shift bias occurs when the student's internal frame of reference of the construct being measured, for example research ability or critical thinking, changes between the pre‐test and the post‐test due to the influence of the educational programme. To control for response shift bias the retrospective pre‐test method was used to evaluate the outcomes achieved from students completing a research module at master's level. The retrospective pre‐test method differs from the traditional pre‐test–post‐test design in that both post‐test and pre‐test perceptions of respondents are collected at the same time. The findings indicated that response shift bias was evident in that the programme had significantly greater impact on outcomes than identified using the traditional pre‐test–post‐test design leading to the conclusion that students may overestimate their ability at the commencement of an educational programme. The retrospective pre‐test design is not a replacement for the traditional pre‐test–post‐test measures but may be a useful adjunct in the evaluation of the impact of educational programmes on student outcomes.     

The Relative Effectiveness of the Reflective and the Lecture Approach Methods on the Achievement of High School Social Studies Students

The aim of this study was to find out whether the achievement of high school social studies students differs significantly according to whether they are taught by the reflective teaching method or the lecture approach method. A stratified random sample of 215 year three social studies students was randomly assigned to two groups: 107 students into the reflective approach group and 108 into the lecture approach group. An achievement test was used as the pre‐ and the post‐test. The means of the aggregate mean performance scores were compared by the use of Student's t‐test. There was no significant difference between the two groups on the pre‐test scores but there was a significant difference between the post‐test scores, in favour of the group taught by the reflective approach method.     

Effects of organizational pictures and modality as a feedback strategy on learner comprehension and satisfaction

One of the strongest instructional interventions documented in educational literature is the use of feedback to influence learning outcomes. However, there is lack of empirical research specifically pertaining to the use of multimedia in the feedback message. The purpose of this research was to test whether organizational pictures and modality as a feedback strategy had an effect on learner comprehension and satisfaction. The research design was a 2 Multimedia (Picture Present vs. Picture Absent) × 2 Modality (Narration vs. On-screen Text) × Trial (Trial 1 vs. Trial 2) with Multimedia and Modality serving as between-subject conditions and Trial serving as a repeated measure. One-hundred fifteen university students participated in the study. Findings show statistically significant increases in comprehension scores from Trial 1 to Trial 2 assessments for all four treatment conditions. Learners in the Picture present conditions were statistically more satisfied with the learning experience. Additionally, we used eye-tracking to verify the extent to which the pictures were used in the feedback message. A discussion and recommendations for future research and feedback design are provided.     

Doodling Effects on Junior High School Students’ Learning

The main purpose of this study was to assess the effects of doodling on the learning performance of high school female students in Tehran. The design of this research was a pre‐test–post‐test with a control group. A group of 169 junior high school 12–13 year‐old students was chosen for this study. After being taught a section of the Natural Science course, the students were asked to answer questions related to the lessons. After that, their grades were used as the pre‐test scores. The post‐test was carried out after the devised treatment. During ten sessions of the same course and teacher, the students were each given a blank sheet of paper and were asked for doodling if they felt like doing it. After each session, a couple of relevant written questions were asked to evaluate how well students had learned the lessons. The experiment and control group both consisted of 27 randomly selected students; participants in the experiment group were doodlers and those in the control group did not doodle. To evaluate the doodling effect a t‐test analysis was performed. Comparison of the grades showed that the experiment group outperformed the control group significantly.     

The power of anticipated feedback: Effects on students' achievement goals and achievement emotions

In an experimental study (N = 153 high school students), we tested a theoretical model positing that anticipated achievement feedback influences achievement goals and achievement emotions, and that achievement goals mediate the link between anticipated feedback and emotions. Participants were informed that they would receive self-referential feedback, normative feedback, or no feedback for their performance on a test. Subsequently, achievement goals and discrete achievement emotions regarding the test were assessed. Self-referential feedback had a positive influence on mastery goal adoption, whereas normative feedback had a positive influence on performance-approach and performance-avoidance goal adoption. Furthermore, feedback condition and achievement goals predicted test-related emotions (i.e., enjoyment, hope, pride, relief, anger, anxiety, hopelessness, and shame). Achievement goals were documented as significant mediators of the influence of feedback instruction on emotions, and mediation was observed for seven of the eight focal emotions. Implications for educational research and practice are discussed.