Our work on affect seeks to explore how students emotions influence the dynamics of their conceptual reasoning and in-the-moment epistemological stances. Research on learners' emotions, to date, has mostly focused on the coarse-grain size using surveys and other aggregate measures (Perkins, 2004; Craig, et. al. 2004). While these have illustrated that emotions are correlated with learning, the causal mechanisms (or pathways) by which this happens in the moment are left unexplored (or at least, not explored empirically). In our work we seek to shed light on the moment--by-moment entanglement of learners emotions, conceptual knowledge, epistemological stances, and identity.

Methodologically, we borrow from the knowledge-in-pieces framework (diSessa, 1993) as well as interaction analysis (Jordan & Henderson, 1994). By drawing on these different perspectives in analyzing focal episodes in our case studies, we also hope to address an important emerging theme in the learning sciences: finding common ground between cognitivist and interactionist/situated perspectives to ultimately create more powerful understandings of the phenomenon in the focal episodes.

Publications:

1. Gupta, A., & Elby, A. (In preparation). Integrating Emotions in fine-grained models of students' reasoning: A Case Study. (Please email ayush@umd.edu) for draft). To be submitted to Physical Review Special Topics - PER.
2.  Gupta, A., Danielak, B. A., & Elby, A. (2010). Understanding Students' Difficulties in Terms of Coupled Epistemological and Affective Dynamics.  Proceedings of the 2010 Frontiers in Education Conference (ASEE/IEEE). ) (pp. S3G-1 - S3G6).
3. Danielak, B., Gupta, A., & Elby, A. (2010). Incorporating Affect in Engineering Students’ Epistemological Dynamics. In Gomez, K., Lyons, L., & Radinsky, J. (Eds.) Learning in the Disciplines: Proceedings of the 9th International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS2010) - Volume 2, Short Papers, Symposia, and Selected Abstracts. (pp. 411-412). International Society of the Learning Sciences: Chicago IL.

Talks

1. Integrating Emotions in Fine-grained Dynamics of Students’ Reasoning, 

   Invited Targeted Session, Foundation and Frontiers in Physics Education Research (FFPER), Bar Harbor, ME, June, 2011.
2. The Cognitive Dynamics of Mathematical Sense-making
Center for Engineering Education and Outreach, Tufts University, Boston, MA, March, 2011.

3. The Cognitive Dynamics of Mathematical Sense-making

   Invited Session, American Association of Physics Teachers, Winter Meeting, Jacksonville, FL. January, 2011

4. Incorporating Emotions in fine-grained cognitive dynamics.
   Invited Plenary, The Conference on Transforming Research on Undergraduate STEM Education (TRUSE), University of Maine, Maine, June 2010.

5. The Role of Affect in Stabilizing Wanda's Approach Toward Circuits. Brian Danielak, Ayush Gupta, & Andrew Elby, AAPT 2010 Winter Meeting, Washington, DC.
6. Affect and Identity in Engineering Students’ approaches to learning, problem-solving. Ayush Gupta, Brian Danielak, & Andrew Elby, AAPT 2010 Winter Meeting, Washington, DC.