The document discusses a study on the role of emotions in student learning and research. The study found that the most influential emotions students experience during research are confidence, worry, and frustration. It contends that confidence comes from familiarity with sources and easy access, not just improved library resources. Students must be able to manage their emotions for information literacy skills to succeed. The study recommends a holistic approach to information literacy instruction that acknowledges both the affective and cognitive domains to reduce emotional bottlenecks to learning.

1. Confidence, Frustration, and Worry
The Role of Emotions in Student Learning & Research
Mike Courtney
Indiana University
@liboutreach
Carrie Donovan
Ferris State University
@carriedonovan

2. High Hopes + Few Moments = #LibraryLife
Focus on the Affective Domain
Value of Qualitative Data
Theoretical Guideposts
Practical Applications

3. Critical Theory + Information Literacy
Local Campus Mission, Vision, Curriculum
Influence & Context

4. Inquiry Question
Methodology
Interview Protocol
Data Analysis
Library Ethnography

5. Intended / Unintended Findings
Library Use
Getting Help
Assignment Structure
Confidence (True & False)
Raw Emotion
Self Awareness

6. Our study shows the most influential emotions in students’ research experiences
are:
Confidence Worry Frustration Anxiety
The Influence of Emotions in the Research Process

7. Assumption:
If you make it easy to find library resources, students will use the library
Contention:
● Confidence comes from familiarity with sources and one-click access

8. “it’s pretty easy with the library website, I guess. You just go through
the resources and on the… library page, there is a site specifically laid
out perfectly for us to choose the sources or the databases that we’re
gonna use to search. It was so easy to find sources... We didn’t really
have any problems whatsoever.
I don’t feel like I’ve really been properly trained, I guess, to go about
researching.”

9. Assumption:
If students know strategies and concepts for information
seeking/evaluation, they will succeed
Contention:
● Students must be able to acknowledge and manage their emotions

10. “We couldn’t find the precise information that we were looking for. And
we’re still struggling with that… Soooo, we’re getting better! But it’s
funny to watch our faces over time. We’re probably like, ‘Yeah, we’re
still going,’ and then eventually we’re like, ‘Oh this is kinda weird,’
‘We’ll be ok, we got this.’”

11. Assumption:
Librarians’ teaching is improved through our expertise & library collections
Contention:
If we’re not empathetic, we’ve got nothing

12. “It’s been a little overwhelming…. it takes a while to find things.”
“I just worry about it with all my other classes, getting everything done
on time.”
“I was kind of overwhelmed. And I remember we were like ‘where do
we begin?’”

13. Holistic Approach
--acknowledges--
Affective & Cognitive
Bottlenecks to Learning

14. Information Literacy
as its own
Discipline

15. Research | Iterative Process | Learning
Kuhlthau & Confidence

16. “The rough draft is due on Friday, and that’s actually not too hard. It’s
the researching and understanding, really comprehending what this is
trying to say. Like when you know an article is useful but you can’t
figure it all out, that’s the mind-blowing part.
It’s like, it’s really…it makes you question how smart you are, and then
you get discouraged. I’m not kidding, that’s exactly what happens.”

17. Making the Affective Actionable
Start with
cognitive
outcome
Align with
emotional
outcome
Design
holistic
learning
experience
Adjust
course
assignments
accordingly

18. Example
“This might be a little too analytical for my purposes. I don’t know that I
would understand this one well enough to put it in my paper.”

19. Model
Selecting
sources
--Identifying
--Deconstructing
--Reading
--Use of Known Tools
--Collaboration
--Space for Failure
Start with
cognitive
outcome
Align with
emotional
outcome
Design
holistic
learning
experience
Adjust
course
assignments
accordingly
Confidence
(Lack of)
Application

20. Students work together to “decode an article” with a dictionary or wikipedia in
order to break it down into understandable parts and to define new concepts.
Instead of making the evaluative choice at the point of searching, students
built their “decoding” into a process, which was not based on snap
judgements, but rather through collaborative reading, learning, and
understanding.
How it Plays Out: Timing, Space, & Context

21. Inspiration | Inquiry | Identity
If we don’t honor the importance of values and emotions, neither will our students.
Professional Guideposts

22. Assessment
Cognitive Domain Affective Domain
Library Impact
Institutional Context

23. Stakes = High
“Well…I would start from the top, like click on a few, and then if none
of them matched then, a big ol’ X right here [draws], it’s like back to the
drawing board because obviously you’re not putting in the right thing…
Did I not check a few boxes? Or did I….am I not searching in the right
place? Stuff that that. If the first few were not right, then it was just like,
nope, go back. So you modify your search like a jillion times, just to
finally find a source that you like.”

24. Thank you!
Questions?
Mike Courtney
Indiana University
@liboutreach
Carrie Donovan
Ferris State University
@carriedonovan

25. Image credits
Adapted from “Emotions in the classroom” © 2014 PassageWorks Institute
http://passageworks.org/working-strong-emotions-classroom
Mike Courtney
Indiana University
@liboutreach
Carrie Donovan
Ferris State University
@carriedonovan