Exploring emotional climate in preservice science teacher education

Abstract

Classroom emotional climates are interrelated with students' engagement with university courses. Despite growing interest in emotions and emotional climate research, little is known about the ways in which social interactions and different subject matter mediate emotional climates in preservice science teacher education classes. In this study we investigated the emotional climate and associated classroom interactions in a preservice science teacher education class. We were interested in the ways in which salient classroom interactions were related to the emotional climate during lessons centered on debates about science-based issues (e.g., nuclear energy alternatives). Participants

Emotional climate of a pre-service science teacher education class in Bhutan

“…In contrast, univocal interactions, lack of eye contact, lack of humour, and low levels of EE characterized the formal lectures and presentations by unprepared presenters. This supports earlier research that found that these types of interactions led to decreases in EC in a pre-service science education class in Australia (Bellocchi et al 2013). At the micro-social level of face-to-face interaction, classroom activities employed by teacher educators are vital in the development of positive EC and high quality learning experiences.…”

“…The low EC, and sometimes negative EC, produced during lectures is unsurprising given that a study of pre-service teachers in an Australian context reported similar results (Bellocchi et al 2013). In that study, the authors investigated student debate presentations and found that when the Professor (i.e., Bellocchi) initiated discussions through long monologues or when one student responded to discussion questions with long monologues, the EC values decreased.…”

“…Salient video segments were identified for micro-analysis of verbal and non-verbal conduct at these peaks and troughs. Findings from Bellocchi et al's (2013) study included: events such as engaging debates and informal talk led to positive EC whereas flat debates and formal talk were associated with low EC. This gave some indication that the quality of teaching and learning episodes could be related to the EC and associated classroom interactions.…”

“…As with all effective conceptual learning, learning science requires a nonthreatening environment. Formal interactions that involve dissemination of information instead of open exchange of ideas can produce a dip in emotional climate where verbal interaction follows more of an initiate-respond-evaluate pattern (see Bellocchi et al 2013). For our purposes, emotional climate (EC) is the collective state of emotional communion between members of a class in which the salience of self for individual members gives way to their collective identity (Kanyangara, Rime, Philippot, and Yzerbyt 2007).…”

“…Preservice teachers were informed that EC represented the emotional state of the group rather than their individual feelings. Ratings of 5 and 4 indicate positive EC whereas ratings of 2 and 1 indicate negative EC (Bellocchi et al 2013). As perceptions of EC are inputted using clickers, a USB device attached to a laptop computer records the signals and calculates average EC ratings for the class.…”