The Affective Domain: The Elephant in the Classroom

1. The Affective Domain: The Elephant in the Classroom Zachary Goodell Associate Director Center for Teaching Excellence

2. Emotion and Cognition are inextricably linked and perhaps never entirely separate, distinctive nor pure.~William James The separation of the head from the heart has contributed to a fractured education system that produces minds that do not know how to feel and hearts that do not know how to think.~Parker Palmer

3. Activity • Develop a classroom assessment technique around a particular learning objective from one of your courses • Course goal • Learning objective • Authentic activity • feedback

4. The Reflexive Mind • Symbols • Language • Beliefs / values • Schemas • Emotions • Social objects (the “Self”) • Associations / Appropriations / Attributions

5. The Reflexive Mind • Locus of our central nervous system • Thoughts • Feelings • Behavior • Thomas Theorem = Mind over matter • Placebo effect • Self-fulfilling prophesies • Communication / Interaction

6. Significance of the Affective Domain • It colors every thought and every behavior • Closely tied to the “Self” = self esteem • Self = values & beliefs/cognition/behavior • A strong relationship between affect and memory • A strong relationship between affect and student engagement • A strong relationship between affect high impact activities

7. What is the Affective Domain? • Motivations • Moods • Feelings • Emotions • Attitudes • Beliefs / Values

8. What is the Affective Domain? • Motivations • Moods • Feelings • Choice / Power • Relevance • Need • Enthusiasm • Priming • Humor • Community • Competition • Engagement

9. Yerkes / Dodson Law

10. What is the Affective Domain? • Emotions • Compelling examples • Emotional contagion • Redefine situations • Small group activities • Group processing • Learning log • Reflection papers

11. What is the Affective Domain? • Attitudes • Beliefs / Values • High Impact activities and/or sustained activities • The first day of class • Cognitive dissonance • Role Playing • Learning communities • Service Learning • PBL / TBL • Under grad. Research • Internships/externships • Study abroad

12. Bloom’s Taxonomy • Knowledge • Comprehension • Application • Analysis • Synthesis • Evaluation

13. Krathwohl’s Taxonomy • Receiving / Attending • Responding • Valuing • Conceptualizing • Characterizing

14. What is the Affective Field? • The space around people and their environment. • Lighting • Color • Architecture • Climate • Configuration • Sound

15. What is the Affective Field? • The space between the people engaged in an interaction • Safety • Trust • Respect • Power • Communication

16. Implications for course / curricular design • Communication -verbal, written and body • High impact activities (PBL / TBL) • Small group work / learning communities • Service learning • Self – assessment • (reflection papers, learning logs, etc.) • Group processing • Capstone courses / learning portfolios

17. Additional Tips • Share your Teaching Philosophy • Get personal / be genuine / show passion • Tell stories • Use small groups • Frequency reduces awkwardness • Incremental / escalating success builds confidence • Make relevant to life and career

18. Consider the Following Activities • Concept Maps • Reflection Papers, Journaling • Small Group Activities / Cooperative Learning • Perry Game • Role play / Gaming • Confidence surveys / Knowledge Surveys • Free Association = Implicit Attitudes