Memories of Enjoyment and Boredom: Students' Affective Experiences Extended Across Time

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 16
  In Roundtable Session: Motivation and Achievement

Abstract

This study drew on remembered utility research from cognitive psychology to explore how students’ daily affective experiences in the classroom relate to their remembered affective memory of a course overall. Data were collected using surveys and experience sampling. Students’ ratings of their momentary enjoyment and boredom were used to predict their remembered affective experiences of enjoyment and boredom for the course. Students’ ratings of remembered enjoyment and boredom at the end of the course were best predicted by their average momentary enjoyment and boredom during class, compared to peak, final, and initial enjoyment and boredom. Results suggest that students’ affective experiences during class influence how they remember the course, but in a way that may differ from previous experimental findings.

Authors

• Kimberly Marie Alberts, Michigan State University

• Vicky Phun, Michigan State University

• Jennifer A. Schmidt, Michigan State University