Читать книгу Student Engagement Techniques - Elizabeth F. Barkley - Страница 64

Emotions impact learning in two distinct ways: the emotional climate in which learning occurs and the degree to which emotions are associated with the learning content. A positive learning climate in which students feel comfortable, a sense of rapport with their teacher and their peers, and as though they can be successful, leads to the release of endorphins in the blood, which in turn gives feelings of euphoria and stimulates the frontal lobes. A negative environment, in which a student feels dumb, disrespected, or disconnected, leads to the release of the hormone cortisol into the blood, which results in raised anxiety and refocuses frontal lobes to fight or flight (Sousa, 2006, p. 84). In terms of learning content, students are more likely to remember material in which they have made an emotional investment. This is why many teachers try to help students care about what they are learning by using simulations, role playing, journal writing, and relating what students are learning to real-world experiences.

Designing courses to address students' emotional states is valuable for several reasons. Tapping into students' emotions can inspire them to put forth their greatest effort, thus propelling them toward achieving their highest potential. Helping students care about what you are trying to teach them increases the likelihood that they will learn more deeply and remember longer. Recognizing and making adjustments for when a student feels sad, stressed, or threatened can remove roadblocks not solvable by cognitive strategies alone. Collectively, students' feelings greatly impact the interactions and relationships that contribute to—or undermine—the sense of classroom community. In short, how students feel about what is happening in the classroom is critical to how they engage in (or disengage from) the learning that teachers are trying to engender in the classroom.