How Teacher-Student Relationships Shape Student Engagement and Interest in Science

The current research on emotional engagement and teacher-student relationship is abundant and acknowledges education as an environment that thrives on social interactions and causes a variety of emotions to be present in the classroom. However, research on the relationship between Black and Latinx students’ teacher-student relationships and students’ emotional engagement and interest in science in urban middle school science classrooms remains scarce. Unfortunately, Black and Latinx students often experience a) mixed social interactions with their teachers, b) a lack of relatability to science instruction, and c) a combination of positive and negative emotions during science instruction and activities. This phenomenological, qualitative study aimed to highlight science teachers’ and Black and Latinx students’ experiences and perspectives on the factors that influence their teacher-student relationships, students\u27 emotional engagement, interest in science in an urban middle school. The questions that guided this dissertation were: 1) How do Black and Latinx students describe the factors that help or hinder their teacher-student relationships, emotional engagement, and interest in middle school science classrooms? and 2) How do science teachers describe the factors that help or hinder their teacher-student relationships, emotional engagement, and interest in middle school science classrooms? One on one interviews were conducted with a conveniently sample of science teachers (n = 5) and Black and Latinx students (n = 8). Discourse analysis added significance to the one-on-one interviews by examining the language used in regard to identity, activity, and relationships. The two major factors identified by students in the data included a) emotional awareness and support; and b) teacher personalities and caring characteristics. The three major factors that were mentioned by teachers were: understanding emotional awareness, engagement, and support, understanding their students and displaying that teachers care, and implementing relatable, collaborative, and hands-on activities. Additionally, two sub-themes emerged from the teacher interviews: a) understanding trust development through relatability, consistency, and reciprocity; and b) providing purposeful feedback

Teachers’ emotional intelligence — a vital component in the learning process Nina Barłożek

Teachers’ role in education requires many various abilities. One of such fundamental capacities in the contemporary world is emotional intelligence. Emotional aspects in the teaching process influence overall student performance, which has been proved in many studies (Edannur, 2010; Nicolini, 2010; Brackett and Katulak, 2007; Kremenitzer, 2005, and others). Nevertheless, before educators commence handling students’ emotions, it is undisputable that their emotional life must be established so as to positively impact students’ academic performance. Educators ought to analyse their emotional skills first and only then proceed to expand students’ emotional literacy. The aim of the research is to examine the relationship between the English teachers’ level of emotional intelligence and the way they are assessed by their students. By means of the TIE 1.0 test on emotional intelligence and a questionnaire, the researcher was able to examine the issue in question. The results indicate that those teachers who demonstrate a higher level of emotional intelligence gain much higher scores in the questionnaires completed by the students in comparison to those of a low level of emotional intelligence

Developing Project Managers’ Transversal Competences Using Building Information Modeling

The emergence of building information modeling (BIM) methodology requires the training of professionals with both specific and transversal skills. In this paper, a project-based learning experience carried out in the context of a project management course at the University of Extremadura is analyzed. To that end, a questionnaire was designed and given to students who participated in the initiative. Results suggest that BIM can be considered a virtual learning environment, from which students value the competences developed. The emotional performance observed was quite flat. Similarly, students valued the usefulness of the initiative. Students expressed a desire for the methodological change of the university classes, and thought that BIM methodology could be useful for other courses. The results obtained show a line of work to be done to improve the training of students and university teaching

Leveraging a Relationship with Biology to Expand a Relationship with Physics

This work examines how experiences in one disciplinary domain (biology) can impact the relationship a student builds with another domain (physics). We present a model for disciplinary relationships using the constructs of identity, affect, and epistemology. With these constructs we examine an ethnographic case study of a student who experienced a significant shift in her relationship with physics. We describe how this shift demonstrates (1) a stronger identification with physics, (2) a more mixed affective stance towards physics, and (3) more expert-like ways of knowing in physics. We argue that recruiting the students relationship with biology into experiences of learning physics impacted her relationship with physics as well as her sense of how physics and biology are linked

Learning in Motion: Teachers‟ Perspectives on the Impact of Stationary Bike Use in the Classroom

The potential of physical activity to support self-regulated learning in the classroom has encouraged the implementation of stationary bicycles across Canada and the United States. Positive testimonials suggest that their use by students has positive outcomes, but there is limited empirical evidence supporting the efficacy of this pedagogical practice. The current study analyzes teachers‟ perceptions of the use and impact of stationary exercise bicycles in classrooms as part of a community running program initiative through a nationwide survey of 107 participants. Key findings identify teacher perceptions of positive outcomes in students‟ social, emotional, and cognitive development, as well as to the learning environment. A small set of unique challenges were posed by the bike integration, including limited distraction and some scheduling difficulties. Teachers approached the integration of the bikes on a spectrum of control from “student-regulated” to “teacher-regulated” with some combination of both, and movement from teacher-directed use to more student-initiated use after the bike was in use for some time. The implications for the use of stationary bikes as a tool for self-regulated learning in an active classroom are discussed and future research measuring learning outcomes is suggested

Teachers’ emotional intelligence : the impact of training

A growing number of studies have suggested that teachers' personal competencies, and more specifically Emotional Intelligence (EI), are particularly important for teacher effectiveness. Recently, there has also been a growing recognition of the importance of social-emotional competencies to students' learning and academic achievement. However, there has been a neglect of emotions in the field of teaching, and little is known about the impact of training aimed at developing teachers' EI on their EI levels and their practice. The current study investigates the impact of a teacher- centered EI training on teachers' EI in Israel. The study followed a two-year EI training in one school, employing group workshops and personal coaching. The study used a mixed methodology, making use of pre-post EQ-i assessment and semi-structured interviews. The findings illustrate that the training programme was perceived by the participants to have enhanced their EI competencies, as defined by the Bar-On model. Most participants integrated these competencies into their personal, professional and group identities and modified their EI-related behaviours.peer-reviewe

Impact of emotions on students in teaching and learning

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Researches have shown that students experience a wide range of emotions in class and while doing test. The type of emotions students experiences in classroom environment and during learning has impact of their academic performance. If educationists can understand this, it will lead to better education planning. A lot of researches had investigated the effects of emotions on academic performance, learning strategies and motivation of students separately; however, none of them had studied these factors together in a single research. In terms of data collection, none of these researches had captured students’ emotions by ethnography as data were mainly collected through questionnaire in these studies. This research addresses these two shortcomings by investigating the types of emotions students experienced during class, while taking tests and after taking tests in relation to academic performance, learning strategies and motivation. The research when a step further from the usual data collection of distributing questionnaire by recording the class sessions and analysing the video clips with the participants to identify the emotions experienced by them while teaching was on-going. The aim of experiment relating to academic performance and test anxiety was to investigate the effect of achievement pressure and expectation of failure as contributors to students’ thought and action; to know if there is correlation between test anxiety and academic performance; and finally, to find out if there is correlation between class-related emotions and test-related emotions. Experiment relating to motivational beliefs was aimed at investigating the relationship between the components of motivational beliefs and test anxiety; effect of academic performance on motivational beliefs and test anxiety; and finally, relationship between students’ self-regulation, self-determination and academic performance. Experiment relating to boredom was aimed at finding the impact of boredom on students’ interest in the course and learning; impact of boredom on students understanding of the course and learning; and finally, how boredom affect students learning, attention during class and engagement in learning. This research used both qualitative and quantitative methods to gather data used in answering the research hypotheses raised from the research questions. The participants for the study were twenty-four (24) students of the Department of Computer Science, Federal College of Education (Special), Oyo, Nigeria. This research was conducted through teaching of two topics from Computer Science courses and a test for each of the class taught, distribution of questionnaire, and analysing the video clips from the class sessions. Learners’ academic performances were obtained through the tests conducted, while achievement pressure, expectation of failure, students’ thought, and action were obtained from Achievement Emotions Questionnaire (AEQ). Motivational beliefs components were obtained from the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ). Findings from this study revealed that students' motivation and action are settings to consider when investigating the different types of emotions students experience while in class and during test. The results also show that class-related emotions and test-related emotions have different emotional effect on students which support hypotheses for patterns within and between domains. Results from the research revealed that motivational beliefs are not correlated to test anxiety. The result of the study also revealed that there is high correlation between test anxiety and academic outcomes. This shows that students who have high test anxiety are likely to performance poorly in their examinations. Boredom was found to have significant impact on student’s interest and understanding of the course taught in class, and likewise on attention and engagement during lectures. The results of analysis of interview revealed that emotions experienced during teaching are related to individuals and learning styles and students’ personal affairs which are not related to happening in classroom environment.Tertiary Education Trust Fun

Managing affect in learners' questions in undergraduate science

This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below. Copyright @ 2012 Society for Research into Higher Education.This article aims to position students' classroom questioning within the literature surrounding affect and its impact on learning. The article consists of two main sections. First, the act of questioning is discussed in order to highlight how affect shapes the process of questioning, and a four-part genesis to question-asking that we call CARE is described: the construction, asking, reception and evaluation of a learner's question. This work is contextualised through studies in science education and through our work with university students in undergraduate chemistry, although conducted in the firm belief that it has more general application. The second section focuses on teaching strategies to encourage and manage learners' questions, based here upon the conviction that university students in this case learn through questioning, and that an inquiry-based environment promotes better learning than a simple ‘transmission’ setting. Seven teaching strategies developed from the authors' work are described, where university teachers ‘scaffold’ learning through supporting learners' questions, and working with these to structure and organise the content and the shape of their teaching. The article concludes with a summary of the main issues, highlighting the impact of the affective dimension of learning through questioning, and a discussion of the implications for future research