Bored and Frustrated with Online Learning? 1 Running head: BORED AND FRUSTRATED WITH ONLINE LEARNING?

Words: 107 Narrative Words: 2,340 References: 19 Tables: 1 Figures: 0 Bored and Frustrated with Online Learning? Understanding Achievement Emotions from a Social Cognitive, Control-Value Perspective Anthony R. Artino, Jr. and Jason M. Stephens University of Connecticut Paper presented at the 2007 annual meeting of the Northeastern Educational Research Association, Rocky Hill, CT. Please note, a version of this manuscript is currently under review for consideration in the Winter 2007 issue of Academic Exchange Quarterly. Bored and Frustrated with Online Learning? 2 Abstract Using social cognitive, control-value theory as a theoretical framework, the objective of the present study was to investigate how students’ cognitive appraisals (task value and self-efficacy) are related to their negative achievement emotions (boredom and frustration) within an online course. Service academy undergraduates (n = 481) completed a survey that assessed their cognitive appraisals and negative achievement emotions. Consistent with expectations, Pearson correlations indicate that task value and self-efficacy were significantly related to each other and to students’ negative achievement emotions. Additionally, regression results reveal that task value and self-efficacy were significant negative predictors of boredom and frustration. Theoretical considerations, educational implications, and future directions are discussed.Using social cognitive, control-value theory as a theoretical framework, the objective of the present study was to investigate how students’ cognitive appraisals (task value and self-efficacy) are related to their negative achievement emotions (boredom and frustration) within an online course. Service academy undergraduates (n = 481) completed a survey that assessed their cognitive appraisals and negative achievement emotions. Consistent with expectations, Pearson correlations indicate that task value and self-efficacy were significantly related to each other and to students’ negative achievement emotions. Additionally, regression results reveal that task value and self-efficacy were significant negative predictors of boredom and frustration. Theoretical considerations, educational implications, and future directions are discussed. Bored and Frustrated with Online Learning? 3 Bored and Frustrated with Online Learning? Understanding Achievement Emotions from a Social Cognitive, Control-Value Perspective Research in online education has traditionally been dominated by comparison studies; that is, investigations which compare the effectiveness of online education with that of conventional classroom instruction. On the whole, these studies have found no significant differences between the learning outcomes of online and traditional students (e.g., Berge & Mrozowski, 2001; Bernard et al., 2004; Zhao, Lei, Yan, Lai, & Tan, 2005). Recently, there has been a call for a new paradigm of research in online education. Specifically, online learning experts have encouraged researchers to move beyond betweengroup studies (online versus traditional learning) and to focus instead on within group differences among distance learners (Abrami & Bernard, 2006; Bernard et al., 2004). The purpose of the present study was to begin addressing this under-researched area by examining the relations between learners’ cognitive appraisals (task value and self-efficacy) and their negative achievement emotions (boredom and frustration) in the context of an online course. Theoretical Framework Although student emotions have historically been considered an important part of many motivational theories (Schunk, Pintrich, & Meece, 2008), the role of emotions have been largely ignored in contemporary social cognitive theories of motivation (Linnenbrink & Pintrich, 2002, 2004). Two notable exceptions are Weiner’s (1985) work on attribution theory and the plethora of test anxiety research that has been conducted over the last 30 years (Schunk et al., 2008). In recent years, however, several researchers (e.g., Goetz, Pekrun, Hall, & Haag, 2006; Linnenbrink & Pintrich, 2002, 2004; Pekrun, Elliot, & Maier, 2006; Pekrun, Goetz, Titz, & Perry, 2002) have acknowledged the importance of achievement-related emotions and their Bored and Frustrated with Online Learning? 4 influence on cognitive engagement and processing, and have begun integrating them into theories of self-regulation. For instance, Pekrun (2000, 2006) has developed a social cognitive, control-value theory of achievement emotions that outlines hypothesized linkages between students’ emotions and their learning and achievement. According to Pekrun’s theory, positive achievement emotions, such as enjoyment and hope, and negative emotions, such as boredom and anger, are determined, in part, by students’ cognitive appraisals. “Two categories of cognitive appraisals are proposed as central to the development of academic emotions: subjective control and subjective values of achievement-related actions, topics, and outcomes” (Goetz et al., 2006, p. 291). Both subjective control (i.e., self-appraisals of competence such as self-efficacy beliefs) and subjective values (i.e., self-appraisals of task value and importance) are thought to mediate the relations between aspects of the environment and achievement emotions (Pekrun, 2000, 2006). Using Pekrun’s (2000, 2006) social cognitive, control-value theory as a framework, several studies with university students in traditional classrooms have found that achievement emotions are related in significant ways to measures of students’ academic success (Pekrun et al., 2002). In particular, negative achievement emotions (e.g., boredom and anger) correlated negatively with motivational variables (e.g., interest and effort) and measures of learning strategies use (e.g., elaboration and metacognition); whereas positive emotions (e.g., enjoyment and hope) related positively to these same outcomes. In a more recent study, Pekrun et al. (2006) found that adaptive components of students’ motivational beliefs (i.e., their mastery goals) were negative predictors of anger and boredom and positive predictors of enjoyment and hope. Aside from the research described above, a review of the literature revealed very few empirical studies that have directly examined how achievement emotions are promoted in Bored and Frustrated with Online Learning? 5 academic settings. Moreover, limited findings from traditional classrooms have suggested that there may be a “complex interplay among affect, cognition, and motivation that needs to be further investigated” (Linnenbrink & Pintrich, 2004, p. 83). Purpose of the Study The purpose of the present study was to begin addressing the complex interplay among achievement emotions, cognition, and motivation, as described by Linnenbrink and Pintrich (2002, 2004). In particular, this study was designed to determine how students’ cognitive appraisals (task value and self-efficacy) are related to two negative achievement emotions (boredom and frustration) in the context of a self-paced, online course in the military. Self-paced, online courses are a specific type of online training in which students use a Web browser to access a course management system and complete Web-based courses at their own pace. While completing these courses, students do not interact with an instructor or other students. This study focused on negative achievement emotions because earlier work with a similar sample revealed that many students had negative feelings about online training (Artino & McCoach, 2007). In the present study, it was hypothesized that students’ perceived task value and self-efficacy would be negatively related to their boredom and frustration. Furthermore, after controlling for course grade and student demography (gender and age), it was hypothesized that task value and self-efficacy would be significant negative predictors of students’ boredom and