Poster #23 - Emotional reactions to feedback relate to mathematics performance and motivation

• In Event: Poster Session 15

Abstract

Feedback on students’ performance often has positive effects on learning, yet the effects are variable and can be negative in certain contexts (e.g., Wisniewski et al., 2020). Several theories suggest that the learner’s affect – their emotions and feelings – may play a role in determining whether feedback has beneficial effects. For example, Feedback Intervention theory suggests that feedback can direct attention towards one’s self and abilities, which in turn can “produce affective reactions that may interfere with task performance” (Kluger & DeNisi, 1998, p. 69). More recently, Grundmann and colleagues (2021) proposed the Model of Motivated Feedback Disengagement, which suggests that feedback can induce negative affect (e.g., shame, anger) that sometimes leads people to disengage from the situation. However, little to no work has measured learner’s affect in response to feedback messages. In this study we asked (1) does feedback induce affective changes for children solving mathematics problems, (2) how do children’s affective responses differ depending on if they receive positive versus negative feedback, and (3) does children’s affective responses to feedback at the beginning of a mathematics activity relate to future task performance?
In this study, 85 children (ages 6 to 8 years old) completed an online Zoom session with a trained researcher. They solved open-ended mathematical equivalence items (e.g., 3 + 4 = 5 + __), and received corrective feedback after each item. Children progressed through a maximum of 20 items, but had the option to stop after every 4 items. In addition to calculating their performance (i.e., percent correct) and motivation (i.e., number of items they chose to solve), we coded children’s positive and negative affect. Trained researchers watched the recorded videos and reliably used children’s tone of voice, verbal statements, gestures, and facial expressions to rate their positive affect and their negative affect (each on a scale from 1 to 5) for each problem-solving event and for each feedback event.
Results suggest that feedback induces affective changes: the average amount of affect (positive and negative) experienced when feedback was presented was significantly higher than the average amount of affect experienced during problem solving (Ms = 3.01 vs. 2.59), t(84) = 6.21, p < .001. Further, positive affect was significantly higher when the child received positive feedback (e.g., you’re right) relative to negative feedback (e.g., you’re wrong) (Ms = 1.91 vs. 1.18), t(84) = 4.95, p < .001. Though negative affect was similar whether the child received positive feedback or negative feedback (Ms = 1.07 vs. 1.08), t(84) = 0.06, p = .955. Finally, the amount of negative affect experienced during the first four items negatively correlated with subsequent performance, r(60) = -.33, p = .006, and motivation, r(60) = -0.49, p < .001.
This research highlights the important role emotion regulation plays in the learning process and it provides novel empirical support for the Model of Motivated Feedback Disengagement for children learning mathematics (Grundmann et al., 2021). Increased emotional states may influence children’s desire to persist on difficult math tasks.

Authors

• Megan Victoria Merrick, Indiana University - Bloomington
  Presenting Author

• Emily Fyfe, Indiana University - Bloomington