Investigating Undergraduate Engineering Students’ Understanding and Perceptions of Affective Domain of Learning

Anna Li Coffman; Javeed Kittur

Download Paper | Permalink

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 1
Tagged Division: Educational Research and Methods Division (ERM)
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/47705

Request a correction

Dr. Kittur is an Assistant Professor in the Gallogly College of Engineering at The University of Oklahoma. He completed his Ph.D. in Engineering Education Systems and Design program from Arizona State University, 2022. He received a bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering and a Master’s in Power Systems from India in 2011 and 2014, respectively. He has worked with Tata Consultancy Services as an Assistant Systems Engineer from 2011–2012 in India. He has worked as an Assistant Professor (2014–2018) in the department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, KLE Technological University, India. He is a certified IUCEE International Engineering Educator. He was awarded the ’Ing.Paed.IGIP’ title at ICTIEE, 2018. He is serving as an Associate Editor of the Journal of Engineering Education Transformations (JEET).

He is interested in conducting engineering education research, and his interests include student retention in online and in-person engineering courses/programs, data mining and learning analytics in engineering education, broadening student participation in engineering, faculty preparedness in cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains of learning, and faculty experiences in teaching online courses. He has published papers at several engineering education research conferences and journals. Particularly, his work is published in the International Conference on Transformations in Engineering Education (ICTIEE), American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), Computer Applications in Engineering Education (CAEE), International Journal of Engineering Education (IJEE), Journal of Engineering Education Transformations (JEET), and IEEE Transactions on Education. He is also serving as a reviewer for a number of conferences and journals focused on engineering education research.

visit author page

Download Paper | Permalink

Abstract

Each one of us learns the same things differently based on our preferred way of learning. We can learn by building mental models; through feelings, emotions, attitudes; and by physical movements. Based on this, the domains of learning are broadly categorized as cognitive (knowledge), affective (attitudes), and psychomotor (skills). In this research study, the focus is only on the affective domain. The affective domain emphasizes learning using emotions, attitudes, and feelings. The affective domain has been categorized into a hierarchy of skills/levels based on emotions. These five levels, in order of their hierarchy, are receiving, responding, valuing, organization, and characterization. This research study aims at answering the following research question, ‘How do undergraduate engineering students understand and perceive learning through the affective domain of learning?’

A qualitative research design was used, and the interview questions were designed based on the five hierarchy levels of affective domain. Five participants were recruited from different engineering disciplines to participate in an interview (Zoom)of 45-60 minutes. The interviews were audio recorded and transcribed. NVivo was used to code and organize the qualitative data for further analysis. First, an open coding approach was used to code the data and then the data was coded in correspondence to each interview question.

When participants were asked general questions about how they perceive learning through the affective domain, most students expressed a positive outlook towards learning new concepts in general. However, they also noted a decrease in engagement, interest, or positive feelings when dealing with material taught in a confusing manner, unbalanced demands in a class's structures, and dealing with unengaging closed off teachers or TAs. When responding to a new concept, participants said they will evaluate what they do and do not understand, see what questions or thoughts other students have, review notes, and practice. As students interacted with others, they also felt positive towards a topic that they understood and had a chance to explain to a peer that was struggling with the same topic. Whether students felt positively or negatively towards a concept, participants stayed motivated to learn because they valued their education and recognized that it was necessary to learn, graduate, and/or get qualified for a job of interest to them. Also, when a student must organize or prioritize learning one concept over another, four participants agreed that it has no effect on their opinion of that topic and is just a necessity for time constraints. However, they do feel more comfortable with those topics they spend more time on. There was one participant who stated they were not good at prioritizing, so they would focus on what concepts seemed most interesting. Finally, with the characterization hierarchical level, participants noted that they became generally more organized, able to break problems down into smaller parts, and able to explain or determine what the root cause of a problem is. While these findings are important, further research is necessary to discover how to maximize students' learning with a focus on affective domain of learning.

Citation
Format

Coffman, A. L., & Kittur, J. (2024, June), Investigating Undergraduate Engineering Students’ Understanding and Perceptions of Affective Domain of Learning Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/47705

TY - CPAPER
AB - Each one of us learns the same things differently based on our preferred way of learning. We can learn by building mental models; through feelings, emotions, attitudes; and by physical movements. Based on this, the domains of learning are broadly categorized as cognitive (knowledge), affective (attitudes), and psychomotor (skills). In this research study, the focus is only on the affective domain. The affective domain emphasizes learning using emotions, attitudes, and feelings. The affective domain has been categorized into a hierarchy of skills/levels based on emotions. These five levels, in order of their hierarchy, are receiving, responding, valuing, organization, and characterization. This research study aims at answering the following research question, ‘How do undergraduate engineering students understand and perceive learning through the affective domain of learning?’

A qualitative research design was used, and the interview questions were designed based on the five hierarchy levels of affective domain. Five participants were recruited from different engineering disciplines to participate in an interview (Zoom)of 45-60 minutes. The interviews were audio recorded and transcribed. NVivo was used to code and organize the qualitative data for further analysis. First, an open coding approach was used to code the data and then the data was coded in correspondence to each interview question.

When participants were asked general questions about how they perceive learning through the affective domain, most students expressed a positive outlook towards learning new concepts in general. However, they also noted a decrease in engagement, interest, or positive feelings when dealing with material taught in a confusing manner, unbalanced demands in a class&#39;s structures, and dealing with unengaging closed off teachers or TAs. When responding to a new concept, participants said they will evaluate what they do and do not understand, see what questions or thoughts other students have, review notes, and practice. As students interacted with others, they also felt positive towards a topic that they understood and had a chance to explain to a peer that was struggling with the same topic. Whether students felt positively or negatively towards a concept, participants stayed motivated to learn because they valued their education and recognized that it was necessary to learn, graduate, and/or get qualified for a job of interest to them. Also, when a student must organize or prioritize learning one concept over another, four participants agreed that it has no effect on their opinion of that topic and is just a necessity for time constraints. However, they do feel more comfortable with those topics they spend more time on. There was one participant who stated they were not good at prioritizing, so they would focus on what concepts seemed most interesting. Finally, with the characterization hierarchical level, participants noted that they became generally more organized, able to break problems down into smaller parts, and able to explain or determine what the root cause of a problem is. While these findings are important, further research is necessary to discover how to maximize students&#39; learning with a focus on affective domain of learning.
AU - Anna Li Coffman
AU - Javeed Kittur
CY - Portland, Oregon
DA - 2024/06/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Investigating Undergraduate Engineering Students’ Understanding and Perceptions of Affective Domain of Learning
UR - https://peer.asee.org/47705
ER -

Investigating Undergraduate Engineering Students’ Understanding and Perceptions of Affective Domain of Learning

Paper Authors

Anna Li Coffman University of Oklahoma

Javeed Kittur University of Oklahoma orcid.org/0000-0001-6132-7304

Abstract

Citation

APA

APA - LaTeX bibitem

MLA

MLA - LaTeX bibitem

Bibtex

EndNote - RIS