Putting Affect in Context: Meta-Affect, Beliefs, and Engineering Identity

Alyndra Mary Plagge; Emma Treadway; Jessica E. S. Swenson; Danielle Francine Usinski

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Conference: 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Portland, Oregon
Publication Date: June 23, 2024
Start Date: June 23, 2024
End Date: July 12, 2024
Conference Session: Educational Research and Methods Division (ERM) Technical Session 12
Tagged Division: Educational Research and Methods Division (ERM)
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/47906

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Paper Authors

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Alyndra Mary Plagge Trinity University

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Alyndra Plagge is an undergraduate Psychology student at Trinity University. She is majoring in Psychology and minoring in Education and set to graduate in May 2025. After graduation she plans to pursue her master's degree.

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Emma Treadway Trinity University orcid.org/0000-0002-2986-7674

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Emma Treadway received the B.S. degree in Engineering Science from Trinity University in 2011, and her M.S.E. and Ph.D. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 2017 and 2019, respectively. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Engineering Science at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.

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Jessica E. S. Swenson University at Buffalo, The State University of New York

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Jessica Swenson is an Assistant Professor at the University at Buffalo. She was awarded her doctorate and masters from Tufts University in mechanical engineering and STEM education respectively, and completed postdoctoral work at the University of Michigan. Her research work aims to improve the learning experience for undergraduate students by examining conceptual knowledge gains, affect, identity development, engineering judgment, and problem solving.

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Danielle Francine Usinski University at Buffalo, The State University of New York

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Danielle Usinski is an undergraduate research assistant in the Department of Engineering Education at the University at Buffalo. She is currently in her final year and is set to graduate with her Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering in May 2024. Next year, she will be graduating with her Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering in May 2025.

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Abstract

This research paper examines interviews centered on affect and identity. Current research indicates that strong engineering identity is correlated with the retention of students in engineering programs. The identity framework used consisted of performance, competence, interest, and recognition (Godwin, 2016). In this research, we wanted to investigate the influence on affect and its regulation on engineering identity.

For the purpose of this study, we defined affect as the emotions, attitudes, beliefs, and values a student holds in regards to math, science, and engineering. We defined meta-affect as affect about affect, cognition about affect, and monitoring of affect. Goldin’s research on meta-affect has suggested that there is a cycle where students’ beliefs establish meta-affective contexts that in turn shape the experience of affective pathways (2002).

In this study, we sought to understand how meta-affect in math, science, and engineering influence the strength of engineering identity. To our knowledge this work is the first to look at the impacts of meta-affect on the formation of identity. We analyzed transcripts of interviews conducted with students at the end of the fall and spring semesters of their first year in an engineering program. The primary goal of the interviews was to gain insight into engineering students’ affect towards math, science, and engineering and their engineering identity.

For this comparative case study, we narrowed in on three students with different engineering identities. The first participant described having markers of a strong engineering identity (strong interest and performance) whereas the second participant had a weak engineering identity (planning to leave engineering). The third participant fell in between the other participants and shared some aspects of identity with the other two participants (strong interest and weak performance).

This work aims to answer the following research questions: (1) What evidence is there in first year engineering students to support the presence of the relationship between beliefs, meta-affective contexts, and local affect that Goldin proposed in mathematics? (2) What are the implications of these relationships for students’ engineering identity?

Our goal was to investigate and provide evidence for the trends and relationships between beliefs, meta-affective-context, and affect and their influence on engineering identity. We coded the transcripts for instances of affect and identity aligned with Goldin and Godwin’s frameworks. In some cases, the emotions experienced within this cycle were a result of performance. Other times, emotions directly influenced performance and competence. Through the analysis of the transcripts, an interesting trend began to emerge between meta-affect and engineering identity. We noted trends in beliefs concerning getting help, the challenges of engineering, and the innateness of knowledge. The relationship between belief, meta-affective context, and affect had different implications for the students’ identity depending on the valence of the students’ meta-affective contexts and affect. Understanding the relationship between these factors can help instructors promote more positive methods and beliefs for students' handling of their emotions. This could potentially help strengthen engineering identity and increase retention of students within engineering.

Citation
Format

Plagge, A. M., & Treadway, E., & Swenson, J. E. S., & Usinski, D. F. (2024, June), Putting Affect in Context: Meta-Affect, Beliefs, and Engineering Identity Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/47906

TY - CPAPER
AB - This research paper examines interviews centered on affect and identity. Current research indicates that strong engineering identity is correlated with the retention of students in engineering programs. The identity framework used consisted of performance, competence, interest, and recognition (Godwin, 2016). In this research, we wanted to investigate the influence on affect and its regulation on engineering identity.

For the purpose of this study, we defined affect as the emotions, attitudes, beliefs, and values a student holds in regards to math, science, and engineering. We defined meta-affect as affect about affect, cognition about affect, and monitoring of affect. Goldin’s research on meta-affect has suggested that there is a cycle where students’ beliefs establish meta-affective contexts that in turn shape the experience of affective pathways (2002).

In this study, we sought to understand how meta-affect in math, science, and engineering influence the strength of engineering identity. To our knowledge this work is the first to look at the impacts of meta-affect on the formation of identity. We analyzed transcripts of interviews conducted with students at the end of the fall and spring semesters of their first year in an engineering program. The primary goal of the interviews was to gain insight into engineering students’ affect towards math, science, and engineering and their engineering identity.

For this comparative case study, we narrowed in on three students with different engineering identities. The first participant described having markers of a strong engineering identity (strong interest and performance) whereas the second participant had a weak engineering identity (planning to leave engineering). The third participant fell in between the other participants and shared some aspects of identity with the other two participants (strong interest and weak performance).

This work aims to answer the following research questions:
(1) What evidence is there in first year engineering students to support the presence of the relationship between beliefs, meta-affective contexts, and local affect that Goldin proposed in mathematics?
(2) What are the implications of these relationships for students’ engineering identity?

Our goal was to investigate and provide evidence for the trends and relationships between beliefs, meta-affective-context, and affect and their influence on engineering identity. We coded the transcripts for instances of affect and identity aligned with Goldin and Godwin’s frameworks. In some cases, the emotions experienced within this cycle were a result of performance. Other times, emotions directly influenced performance and competence. Through the analysis of the transcripts, an interesting trend began to emerge between meta-affect and engineering identity. We noted trends in beliefs concerning getting help, the challenges of engineering, and the innateness of knowledge. The relationship between belief, meta-affective context, and affect had different implications for the students’ identity depending on the valence of the students’ meta-affective contexts and affect. Understanding the relationship between these factors can help instructors promote more positive methods and beliefs for students&#39; handling of their emotions. This could potentially help strengthen engineering identity and increase retention of students within engineering.
AU - Alyndra Mary Plagge
AU - Emma Treadway
AU - Jessica E. S. Swenson
AU - Danielle Francine Usinski
CY - Portland, Oregon
DA - 2024/06/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Putting Affect in Context: Meta-Affect, Beliefs, and Engineering Identity
UR - https://peer.asee.org/47906
ER -