Thinking With Feelings in an Ecosystems Investigation Through Pen Pal Letters

• In Event: Connection With More-Than-Human Participants in Science Learning

Abstract

Objectives and significance. Research demonstrates that, when intertwined with sensemaking and practices, feelings are generative for science learning (Jaber & Hammer, 2016). Previously, research on emotion in science classrooms has focused on observing how feelings influence students’ investigations (e.g., Lanouette, 2022). Research focused on designing to support thinking with feelings is relatively nascent. In this presentation, we will share design principles to support thinking with feelings. We focus on a 6th grade classroom studying guppies and ecosystems, analyzing how pen pal letters exchanged between 6th graders and 9th grade mentors offered generative, multimodal spaces for thinking with feelings.

Theoretical framework. We build research that demonstrates the importance of emotion science learning (e.g., Jaber & Hammer, 2016; Haraway, 2016). We operationalize emotion as interconnected feelings, sensemaking, and practices (Vea, 2020), and we focus on the emotion of care. Inspired by Indigenous and non-dominant ways of knowing (e.g., Medin et al., 2003, Bang et al., 2012), researchers have demonstrated the ethical and generative potential of centering care (between humans and nature) in science learning (e.g., Pugh et al., 2019).

Methods/Data. We analyzed data from one class of 18 6th-grade students studying guppies and ecosystems, as well as letters from their 23 9th-grade pen pals (102 letters). Pen pals corresponded 3 times throughout the 9-week unit. 6th graders were encouraged to share questions and hypotheses, and 9th graders were encouraged to respond with questions and prompts for research rather than answers. We initially analyzed data by coding (Strauss & Corbin, 1994) for feelings, sensemaking and practices (Vea, 2020). However, we found that these strands were inextricably intertwined (see Fig. 1). Instead, we looked for evidence of emotion, finding care as a theme. We operationalized care based on our prior research (Authors, 2022) as connection with individuals (peers, guppies), populations, or systems. We established that the letters were a fruitful context for thinking with care; then, we compared the letters to other learning activities to infer design principles.

Findings. Letters demonstrated 6th graders’ care for their fish. 6th graders expressed care for their fish in 38/51 letters. Even when instructed to write about another experiment, 4/18 6th graders wrote about fish. 9th graders validated and resurfaced these feelings in 21/51 of their letters. When 9th graders were asked to reflect on what they noticed in the 6th graders’ letters, 16/23 described emotions and feelings. For instance, one wrote: “I noticed that [my pen pal] seemed to be concerned about her fish…and what would make it happy.” We compared these letters to other 6th grade activities (journaling, making videos). The following features were unique to the letters, and we propose they supported students’ thinking with feelings: (1) a meaningful audience positioned as mentors, who could resurface students’ questions, give value to their feelings, and generate new questions, (2) the genre of hand-written letters, which offered multimodal freedom to write and draw, and (3) privacy of sharing letters only with a pen pal, which is less vulnerable than whole-class discussions.

Authors

• Ashlyn Pierson, The Ohio State University

• Corey Brady, Southern Methodist University

• Sarah Jaewon Lee, University of Washington