Emotional states during learning situations and students’ self-regulation: process-oriented analysis of person-situation interactions in the vocational classroom

Abstract

IntroductionTheoretical and empirical aspects of interactions between person and situation have been discussed for decades in personality and social psychology in terms of the interactionist paradigm (e.g. Matthews et al. 2003), in educational psychology within the scope of aptitude-treatment interaction theory (e.g. Cronbach and Snow 1977;Yeh 2012), and in vocational education and training (VET) in terms of the process-oriented research approach, investigating antecedents and effects of successful teaching and learning AbstractBackground: In reference to the interactionist paradigm, we analyse how students' emotional states during class are affected by student' self-regulation, by time-varying characteristics within learning situations, and by the interaction of self-regulation abilities and learning situations during class. Methods:We refer to existing empirical research on teaching and learning processes in vocational education and report findings from a process-oriented video study in naturalistic settings that was realised at a German vocational school. Altogether, 92 students were investigated during 1440 min of instruction by use of videography and continuous-state-sampling method (CSSM). The frequency of repeated measurement was 7 min, with 46-51 measures per student. Results:Via latent class analysis, we first identified two types of students who differ in their self-regulation abilities. Then, a multilevel analysis revealed that students' self-regulation affects students' emotional states. In addition, we found that emotional states tend to be affected by the interaction of self-regulation and learning situations within lessons (but that's just a sample-related and non-significant effect). Conclusions:In view of a holistic understanding of teaching and learning processes in vocational education, a deeper knowledge surrounding the interdependencies between personality characteristics, emotional states, and learning situations seems to be essential for an evidence-based design for teaching and learning environments in vocational education and training. Kärner and Kögler Empirical Res Voc Ed Train (2016) Res Voc Ed Train (2016) 8:12 processes (e.g. Achtenhagen 1996;Sembill 1984;Wild and Krapp 1996). However, concerning teaching and learning processes in school, many approaches do not consider interactions between situational conditions during class and students' personal characteristics. Therefore, our research question is whether students' emotional states are determined (1) by students' self-regulation as a personality characteristic (2) by timevarying characteristics of learning situations, (3) and by the interaction of self-regulation abilities and learning situations during class. Dealing with the theoretical background, we first depict the conception of emotional states-with reference to the German term "Emotionale Befindlichkeit", introduced by Achtenhagen et al. (1988) and Sembill (1992)-and its relevance within vocational learning and teaching processes. Secondly, we present a description...

Teachers’ experienced classroom demands and autonomic stress reactions: results of a pilot study and implications for process-oriented research in vocational education and training

“…Thus, from a methodological point of view, the application of cross-classified data structures and corresponding multilevel statistical models (e.g., Heck et al 2010) seems to be the method of choice. In that regard, cross-classification considers that multiple state measures are not only nested within persons, but that they also belong to observation units of the working context corresponding to the time of measurement (Goldstein 1994; Hill and Goldstein 1998; for applications see, for example, Kaerner and Koegler 2016;Kaerner et al 2017;Kaerner and Warwas 2018). Figure 5 illustrates a cross-classified data structure with person-related states (e.g., varying HR or RMSSD values, or stress experience) nested within persons/teachers (1…n; e.g., varying levels of psychological resilience or coping skills) working in a specific working context (1…k; e.g., different types of schools) and exposed to continuously changing context conditions (1…t; e.g., varying levels of work-related demands).…”

“…Thus, future studies should use video-based observations of what is going on in the classroom and use established coding systems such as the "Instrument to Identify Regulation Hindrances in Industrial Work" (RHIA) to identify regulation barriers and capacity-overtaxing factors in classroom teaching (Meder et al 2008). Combining information about "objective" situational context conditions with information on self-reports along with physiological measures (e.g., Kaerner and Koegler 2016;Kaerner et al 2017) seems to be fruitful and would give us better insights about teachers' stress in the classroom (for a good methodological example, see Donker et al 2018).…”

A mixed-methods study of physiological reactivity to domain-specific problem solving: methodological perspectives for process-accompanying research in VET

“…Taking into account that individuals' states (such as physiological reactivity to demanding situations) are affected not only by situational conditions but also by personal characteristics (cf. Kärner and Kögler 2016;Kärner et al 2017), the interaction effect found between vocational experience and goal elaboration provides evidence for person-situation interactions, also within narrowly defined vocational problem-solving situations.…”

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“…Lindberg 2003Lindberg , 2019, students' identity work (Åberg and Hedlin 2015), and more general pedagogical issues (cf. Khaled et al 2016;Kärner and Kögler 2016;Schaap, van der Schaaf, and de Bruijn 2017). Hämäläinen and Cattaneo (2015), for example, examine how emerging technology-enhanced learning settings in school settings in Finland and Switzerland mediate instructional activities when teacher and students interact.…”