Mapping Students' Emotional Journeys

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Mapping Students' Emotional Journeys

• Colin Beard
• c.m.beard_at_shu.ac.uk
• with
• Karen Smith
• Sue Clegg
• Sheffield Hallam University

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• The individuals filling roles such as lecturer,
  student, researcher, administrator or manager
  are, like anyone else, prone to experiencing a
  range of emotions fear, relief, joy,
  puzzlement, envy, excitement, anger in any one
  working day yet the acknowledgement of their
  existence and power is rarely encouraged.
• (Mortiboys, 2002, p7).

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Introduction

• Little mention of emotion in HE literature.
• Acknowledging emotion is not 'theraputising' or
  'counselling'.
• Students as persons which 'transcends the
  cognitive focus of most discussions of learning'
  (Ashworth, 2004, p. 150).
• Emotions part of every pedagogic encounter.

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Context of research

• Proposed Outcomes
• Examine the role of socio-emotional climate and
  its role in enhancing the quality of student
  learning
• Identify and map the emotional agenda of a broad
  student population
• Offer guidance, advice and practical techniques
  for lecturers to support the student learning
  experience
• Enhance student preparedness for lifelong
  learning and employability

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The Literature

• Long history embedded in the rational-emotive
  debate
• Evolving language of affective states
• Attempts to classify emotions..
• Significance of sociality in the redefining of
  intelligence.
• Significance influence of sociality, identity and
  self esteem in learning
• The notion of balance and oppositional
  states.success-pride/failure-shame
• Lack of recognition of affective states in
  contemporary HE literature on learning .
• Social control, gender and power.

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Data collection methods

• Blank sheets
• Emotional mapping
• Focus group work .string, trees, I am.
• Lecturer behaviour data. Students were asked what
  lecturers might do more of or less of in lectures
  and seminars.

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Blank sheet analysis

• Leisure management students in Industry Context
  lecture (total cohort 431)
• Students invited to write positive and negative
  feelings regarding their university experiences
  on blank sheets
• Results anonymous
• Repeated on three occasions
• During the induction week (23 September 2003) -
  278 sheets.
• Week seven of the first semester (10 November
  2003) - 230 sheets
• Week seven of the second semester (2 March 2004)
  - 90 responses.

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Analysis

• Data analysed inductively.
• Sheets read and key words highlighted.
• Highlighted words grouped and represented
  graphically.
• Broad themes emerged from the data.
• Emergent themes were congruent with the lifeworld
  categories, which informed the headings used in
  this presentation (Ashworth 2003 Ashworth 1999)

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Analysis 2

• The student comments were coded as one of the
  following
• Embodiment relationship to feelings about their
  own body, gender, disabilities and emotions
• Personal Project how does the situation relate
  to their ability to carry out the activities
  which are central to their personal lives
• Academic Project how do their academic
  experiences relate to the rest of their lives
• Temporality how is their sense of time affected
  by the situation
• Spatiality how is the geography and the
  environment in which they live affected by the
  situation
• Sociality their relationship with others and its
  impact on the university experience
• Other data which do not fall easily into any of
  the above themes, but are important to the
  students when framing their experiences.

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Induction week

• Making new friends
• Independence and excitement
• Nervous

• Worried about money, the course and leaving home
• Missing friends, family and partners

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Week seven, semester one

• Made new friends
• Like lecturers and enjoy parts of the course
• Settling in to independent life

• Some parts of course boring / time-consuming
• Motivation lacking
• Looming assignments and exams
• Running out of money

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Week seven, semester two

• Confidence following marks for semester one
• Closer relationships with friends, peers and
  staff
• Looking for accommodation

• Bad results for some
• Overdrawn
• Fatigue and bad health
• Problems with peers, flatmates and staff
• Time management and timetabling issues

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Sociality
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Induction week sociality

• Meeting new friends and 'lovers'
• feel like I have a great chance to meet people
  and make new friends. I am going to take every
  opportunity to do so
• so far in three days, I've pulled three times
• I'm scared about not making any new friends
• Missing friends, family and 'lovers'
• miss my boyfriend - tears, broken heart
• miss my friends and their ability to know what
  I'm thinking without me saying anything
• sad that I have my birthday in less than a week
  without my best friends and parents
• Little mention of lecturers

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Week seven sociality

• Developing relationships with friends and
  lecturers
• getting to know people better
• developed into amiable work-directed atmosphere
  among colleagues
• lecturers always help you when you need help
• Missing family, lovers and missed opportunities
• still don't like being away from home
• not seeing my boyfriend for long periods of time
• I had my chance and blew it

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Week seven sociality 2

• Problematic relationships
• find it hard to find a group friends - can't just
  presume people want to be friends with me
• concerned about presentations due to various ones
  in my group we have still not met together and
  are giving a presentation in 2 weeks. That
  stresses me
• a lecturer who doesn't seem to want to teach us -
  won't make the effort to teach us - won't listen
  to out views on how to help the situation

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Week seven, semester two - sociality

• Deepening relationships with friends and
  lecturers
• have friends, who I've become close to
• building a relationship with my lecturers
• found a group that I work really well in
• Problems with lecturers and friends
• don't like the fact you have to arrange meetings
  to see your lecturer
• don't like my present flatmates
• Less mention made of difficulties making friends.

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Conclusions

• Striking similarity of responses
• Possible to map some of the changing emotions
  over the year
• Data showed that students perceive emotions,
  relations with others and the body to be as
  important as the academic in the university
  experience
• Therefore impossible to untangle them
• Disposition to learn is grounded in social
  relationships

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Lecturers more of/less of...

• The affective experience of learners is probably
  the most powerful determinant of learning of all
  kindsFeelings and emotions provide the best
  guides we have as to where we need to devote our
  attention. This may be uncomfortable for
  animators, especially if they are not reconciled
  with their own emotional agendas, and they may be
  set aside because of immediate circumstances, but
  we cannot learn if they are continually denied.
• (Boud Miller, 1996, p17).

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More of less of

• Relationship management was central concern.
• Patronising/friendly/enjoyable/fun/know
  us/involve us/interaction/passionate about
  subject/treated like adults
• Voice was very importantrepresents
  persona..monotone.VEI leakage