Technology, attributions, and emotions in post-secondary education: An application of Weiner’s attribution theory to academic computing problems

Abstract

As technology becomes increasingly integrated with education, research on the relationships between students’ computing-related emotions and motivation following technological difficulties is critical to improving learning experiences. Following from Weiner’s (2010) attribution theory of achievement motivation, the present research examined relationships between causal attributions and emotions concerning academic computing difficulties in two studies. Study samples consisted of North American university students enrolled in both traditional and online universities (total N = 559) who responded to either hypothetical scenarios or experimental manipulations involving technological challenges experienced in academic settings. Findings from Study 1 showed stable and external attributions to be emotionally maladaptive (more helplessness, boredom, guilt), particularly in response to unexpected computing problems. Additionally, Study 2 found stable attributions for unexpected problems to predict more anxiety for traditional students, with both external and personally controllable attributions for minor problems proving emotionally beneficial for students in online degree programs (more hope, less anxiety). Overall, hypothesized negative effects of stable attributions were observed across both studies, with mixed results for personally controllable attributions and unanticipated emotional benefits of external attributions for academic computing problems warranting further study.

To What Factors do University Students Attribute Their Academic Success?

“…These two attributions characterized by being internal and controllable, are functional or adaptive since they allow academic achievement and lead to positive emotions (e.g. feeling proud of themselves), with favorable consequences on school performance (Weiner, 2010a;Maymon et al, 2018). It is these attributions that lead students to self-efficacy in their studies (García-Fernández et al, 2016).…”

“…Electronic ISSN 1803-1617 Maymon et al (2018) point out that stable attributions, just because they cannot be changed, generate negative feelings. In this sense, intelligence becomes a dysfunctional attribution, for something that remains the same over time will always interfere with learning.…”

“…They conclude that such self-attributions do not promote learning and negatively affect academic development and self-confidence. Maymon et al (2018) conducted a study with the intention of finding out whether positive emotions can be predicted from internal and controllable causal attributions, contrary to what stable attributions which can be predictive of negative emotions. Indeed, they found that stable and external attributions produce maladaptive emotions such as hopelessness, boredom, anxiety and guilt.…”

When Academic Technology Fails: Effects of Students’ Attributions for Computing Difficulties on Emotions and Achievement

“…For example, further research examining attributions and emotions following technological problems could help students in online distance education programs in light of research showing online students to have overall higher emotion ratings compared to traditional students (e.g., anger, anxiety, helplessness; Butz et al 2015) and to consistently identify technological difficulties as a source of frustration or stress (Hara 2000), with some citing "computer problems" specifically in qualitative studies (Safford and Stinton 2016). More recent research has also found significant relationships between attributions and emotions following computer problems to differ between traditional and online students (Maymon et al 2018), highlighting the relevance of attribution theory in examining motivational processes following technological difficulties. Furthermore, research on motivation following technological failure experiences of students who will soon enter the workforce could serve to improve training and support programs for newly hired employees working closely with computer technology given similarities previously found between student and workplace computer user frustration (Lazar et al 2005).…”

Emotions Attributions of ELT Pre-service Teachers and Their Effects on Teaching Practice

“…Although attribution theory was developed to interpret human behaviour (Weiner, 1992), its broad analytical lens has been applied to the analysis of students' performances in different subjects, such as mathematics (Baştürk & Yavuz, 2010) and technology (Maymon, Hall, Goetz, Chiarella, & Rahimi, 2018). The present study uses attribution theory to understand pre-service teachers' causal inferences about their teaching performances during practicum in the final year of their undergraduate elt degree programme.…”