Affective Domain and Key IssuesTom KoballaDepartment of Mathematics and Science EducationUniversity of Georgia

There can be little doubt that affect is the most important yet least understood influence on the way people think and behave in social situations.

Joseph P. Forgas, Affect and Social Cognition (2001)

Affective domainI. Affect and its originsII. AttitudeIII. MotivationIV. Controversial issues

Contemporary thinkingThe affective domain (from the Latin affectus, meaning feelings) includes a host of constructs, such as attitudes, values, beliefs, opinions, interests, and motivation.

It describes learning objectives that emphasize a feeling tone, an emotion, or a degree of acceptance or rejection. Affect is not just a simple catalyst, but a necessary condition for learning to occur.

I. Affect and its originsClassic philosophers viewed affect as a primitive, animalistic mode of responding that is incompatible with reason. (Elser, 1985) Empirical psychologys fundamental assumption that feeling, knowing, and willing can be studied in separation. (Hilgard, 1980)Christian Wolff - facultas cognoscivita and facultas appetivaMoses Mendelssohn - three fold classification of mental facultiesImmanuel Kant - tripartite division into his philosophical system

In Science EducationClassification of mental faculties led to cognitive domain, affective domain, and psychomotor domain.Reasons for imbalanced attention to affective domain include:Archetypal image of science itself, where reason is separated from feelingLong-standing cognitive tradition of science educationConfusing definitions of affective constructsUnderdeveloped affective assessment practices

Cognitive paradigm in psychology1960sEmergence of a cognitive paradigm as the mainstream orientation accepted by most psychologists. Affect was considered a disruptive influence on thinking (Hilgard 1980).1980sResearch began to link affect and social cognition--feeling and thinking (Forgas, 2001).

Affect in contemporary psychologyAffect encompasses the broad range of experiences referred to as emotions and moods. (Forgas, 1991; Petty, DeSteno, Rucker, 2001)

Emotions specific and short-lived internal feeling states Moods global and enduing feeling states (Schwarz &Clore, 1996)

II. AttitudeAttitude a general evaluation regarding some person, object or issue (Fazio, 1986; Petty & Cacioppo, 1981). Attitudes refer to valenced reactions to specific attitude objects and do not represent a global affective experience on the part of the individual. A happy or sad person can possess both positive and negative attitudes.

Affective factors in attitude changeCognitive-thoughts or ideas, expressed as beliefsBehavioral-intentions to act or observable behaviorsAffect-emotions related to the attitude object

III. MotivationMotivation is an internal state that arouses, directs, and sustains behavior. The study of motivation attempts to -explain why students strive for particular goals when learning science, -how intensively they strive, -how long they strive, and -what moods and emotions characterize them in the process. (Glynn & Koballa, 2006)

Important motivation constructsIntrinsic and Extrinsic MotivationGoal OrientationSelf-determinationSelf-efficacyAssessment Anxiety

IV. Controversial issues and problems Issue - an idea about which people hold different beliefsmandatory recyclingstrip miningEvolution

Problem - a situation that places a population at riskFishing industry and peoples health placed in jeopardy due to industrial waste

Instructional approaches for dealing with controversyIssue and Problem Awareness Four-cornersVignette

Issue and Problem InvestigationAnalytical decision-making (Oliver & Newman, 1967)Structured controversy (Johnson & Johnson, 1988)

Moving forwardAffect has a past that weaves though philosophy and psychology. Affect influences learning, and learning strategies can play a crucial role in regulating affect. Attitude and motivation are important constructs of the affective domain in science education.

*Although intuitively we know that our feelings frequently have a profound influence on our thoughts, judgments and interpersonal behaviors, in practice we do not yet fully understand how and why these influenced occur. Empirical research by psychologists has, until quite recently, provided only glimpses into the delicate relationship between affect, cognition, and behavior. Most of what is known about the role of affect in social cognition has only been discovered since the beginning of the 1980s.

*This evening I would like to touch on a few topics that are particularly germane to the affective domain as it relates to our work as geoscientists and science educators. I use the term science educator in its broadest sense, referring to all who interact with students of science and future or practicing science teachers. The purpose of my remarks is to provide context for our work together over the next two days. First, I will address the history of affect, speaking about its philosophical roots and psychologys fundamental assumption about affect. Then, Ill shift focus to our conferences three anchoring themes--attitude, motivation, and controversial science topics. Attitude and motivation are two psychological constructs that have received considerable attention within the science education community. Controversial topics, such as evolution, global warming and others, are associated with affective responses, and instructional strategies such as structured controversy are used to help students take different prospective and engage in constructive thinking about hotly contested issues. Ill conclude my remarks by speaking briefly about case-based pedagogy, highly structural feature found in instructional cases and the potential of case-based pedagogy as a tool for professional learning.

*Affect, the term, has it origin the Latin affectus, meaning feelings. From a research prospective, the affective domain includes a host of psychological constructs. Of course, the essence of these constructs can not be measured or assessed directly, but is inferred based on what is heard or witnesses. The affective domain is prominent in educational literature and speak. Krathwohl and colleagues, Bloom and Masia described educational objectives of the affective domain in their book, Taxonomy of educational objectives: Handbook II: Affective domain, published in 1964. The objectives range across six categories from general awareness or receiving to a point where the affect guides behavior or characterization by value set. Affect, as Perrier & Nsengiyumva (2003) point out, is a necessary condition for learning. And, it is this link between the affective domain and learning that brings us together for this workshop.*Interest in affect goes back much further than just a few decades. Classic philosophers such as Aristotle, Socrates, Plato and others devoted considerable attention to the role of affect in human affairs. Forgas (2001) writes that affect was viewed by Plato as a more primitive, animalistic mode of responding that is incompatible with reason. The basic idea that affective reactions tend to overwhelm or subvert rational mental processes (Elser, 1985) has been echoed in many philosophical, social, and psychological theories throughout the ages. For example, Freud saw emotion as a dangerous influence.

In recent years, largely as a result of advances in social cognition and neuroanatomy, it is recognizes that affect is not necessarily a disruptive influence on social thinking. Affect is often a useful and even essential component of adaptive functioning.

Research on affect remained a relatively neglected field until recently in psychology. One reason for this neglect is probably empirical psychologys fundamental assumption that different components of the human mindaffect, cognition, and conation(feeling, knowing, and willing) can be adequately studied in separation from each other rather than in their interactions (Hilgard, 1980). As Hilgard (1980) suggests, it was probably Christian Wolff (1714-1762) who first proposed a distinction between a facultas cognoscivita and a facultas appetivaknowing and desire. Soon afterward, Moses Mendelssohn (1729-1789) introduced a more elaborate, three fold classification of the fundamental faculties of soulunderstanding, feeling, and will. Immanuel Kant, perhaps the most influential philosopher of the 18th century, readily accepted this tripartite division of the human mental faculties and incorporated it into his philosophical system. For Kant, pure reason corresponds to intellect or cognition, practical reason to will, action or conation, and judgment to feeling pleasure or pain, hence affection (Hilgard, 1980, p. 109). This philosophical classification of psychologys subject matter into affect, cognition, and conation has had a major influence on the eventual development of empirical psychology and education. *Philosophical and psychological roots led educators to consider mental faculties as those having to do with thinking, feeling and doing. From Through Blooms taxonomy of educational objectives, we strive to engage our students in higher order thinking, application, analysis and synthesis of understandings. We do this through our questions, assignments, and assessments. In the laboratory and fieldwork, we emphasis the psychomotor domain as we ask students to imitate, manipulate, perform with precision and finally to automatize their practices, just as college or professional athletes do on the field or on the court. In contrast, the affective is less familiar to us as scientists and science educator. A tension of sorts exists between the rational thinking associated with the image of science and affect. Unlike the levels of thinking and doing in the cognitive and psychomotor domains, respectively, the levels of affective described in Krathwohls taxonomy are harder to understand; they are less intuitive, less elegant, and perhaps even slippery (receiving, responding, valuing, organization, and characterization by value set) and therefore they seem less useful. Compare the levels of Krathwohls taxonomy of the affective domain and those of Blooms cognitive domain (knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation). The elegance is apparent. Add to this the many and growing number of constructs associated with the affective domain. When we consider about motivation alone, we have intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, learning goals and performance goals, self-efficacy, anxiety, self-determination, and the list goes on. And, let us not forget the problems with affective assessment. Most affective assessment involves self-report, where instrument reliability and validity are always a concern. * By the late 1960s, a cognitive paradigm emerged (replacing a behaviorist one) as the mainstream orientation accepted by most psychologists. Unfortunately, this alternative cognitive framework was also characterized, until about the early 1980s, by an avoided lack of interest in affect (Hilgard 1980). Affective states, if studied at all, were considered only as a disruptive influence on properthat is, cold and affectlessthinking. By the early 1980s, the time was ripe for affect to occupy a central stage in psychological theorizing, as research began to show that feelings influence perceptual judgments and that affective states play a critical role in how people remember realistic social information (Neisser, 1982). In social psychology, it was Robert Zajonc (1980) who in an influential article called our attention to the importance of affective influences on social judgment and behavior. Within cognitive psychology, Gordon Bowers (1981) work on the affective influences on memory gave a major impetus on affective-cognitive research. When considered from a historical perspective, the boom that began in the 1980s in research linking affect and social cognition confirms that these (feeling and thinking) mental faculties cannot be effectively studied in isolation from each other. Research evidence suggests that affective states can influence attention, learning, memory and associations. On the other hand, cognitive information-processing strategies can play a crucial role in regulating affective states and influencing the nature and extent of affect influence into social cognition. Education research and practice has also been affected by the same paradigm shifted that influenced psychology. We talk about social cognition and situated learning (Brown, Collins & Duguid, 1989; Lave & Wanger, 1991). According to Lave and Wanger (1991), situated learning is education that takes place in an authentic context and involves social interaction and collaboration. And, our participation in this workshop is a testament to the recognition of the role that affect has on learning.

*There is a growing recognition that there are different categories of affective phenomena and their role in social cognition is quite distinct. One crucial distinction is between emotions and moods. Both emotions and moods may have an impact on social cognition, but the nature of this influence is quite different. Emotions are intense, short-lived, and highly conscious affective states that typically have a salient cause and a great deal of cognitive content, featuring information about typical antecedents, expectations, and behavioral plans (Smith & Kirby, 2000). The cognitive consequences of emotions such as fear, disgust, or anger can be highly complex, and dependent on the particular prototypical representations activated in specific situations. Moods, distinct from emotion, are relatively low-intensity, diffuse, and enduring affective states that have no salient antecedent cause and therefore little cognitive content (such as feeling good or feeling bad, or being in a good or bad mood). As moods tend to be less subject to conscious monitoring and control, paradoxically their effects on social thinking, memory, and judgments tend to be potentially more insidious, enduring, and subtle.

*Attitude a general evaluation regarding some person, object or issue (Fazio, 1986; Petty & Cacioppo, 1981). Attitudes refer to valenced reactions to specific attitude objects and do not represent a global affective experience on the part of the individual. The person does not experience the positivity or negativity of the attitude as feeling or emotional state, but as an evaluative orientation toward the object. A happy or sad or moody person can possess both positive and negative attitudes.

*To better understand the role of affective factors in attitude change, it is helpful to understand the role of affect in the structure of attitude. Both classic and contemporary treatments of attitude view them as having three evaluative bases: cognitive, behavioral, and affective. Although an attitude can contain all three elements, it can also be largely or solely bases on one: cognitive, behavioral, and affect.Cognitive-consists of ones thoughts or ideas, expressed as beliefs. (belief that the Dean is doing a good job)Behavioral-refers to observable behavior or intention to act (backers of the Dean have a record of supporting the Deans initiatives) Affective-consists of feelings or emotions that individuals experience or have experienced regarding the attitude object (thinking about the Dean might make one furious)All these components of attitude can be measured across an evaluative continuum ranging from very positive to very negative. When attempting to change attitudes one can provide information (cognitive appeal), one can provide attitude-relevant behavior experience (behavioral appeal), or one can stir the passions (affective appeal). The most studied method of promoting attitude change is incorporating fear-inducing materials. Most of the anti-smoking, drunk driving ads. So if you wish to persuade students to enroll in a summer geology field course, your might share with them your thoughts about how enrolling will aid their understanding of important geological principles (cognitive), or you can demonstrate how they too will be able to identify rock strategy in any cut-through between Minneapolis and Boseman, Montana (behavior), or you can hang recruiting posters that show tanned and scantily clad hotties and hunks examining rock samples along with the course title around campus (affective).

*The study of motivation by science education researchers attempts to explain why students strive for particular goals when learning science, how intensively they strive, how long they strive, and what feeling and emotions characterize them in the process. As science education researchers respond to current national initiatives to foster students science achievement, the emphasis placed on motivation has been increasing. Motivation influences learning and ultimately behavior. Historically, science education researchers have adopted four orientations to motivation when studying learning: behavioral, humanistic, cognitive, and social. A behavioral orientation to motivation focuses on concepts such as incentives and reinforcement. A humanistic orientation to motivation emphasizes students capacity for personal growth, their freedom to choose their destiny, and their desire to achieve and excel. A cognitive orientation to motivation emphasizes students goals, plans, expectations. A social orientation to motivation emphasizes students identities and their interpersonal relationships. These four orientations to motivation are manifested in the motivational constructs being examined by science educators.*The important motivational constructs being examined by researchers include intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, goal orientation, self-determination, self-efficacy, and assessment anxiety. Motivation to do something for its own sake is mainly intrinsic, where as motivation to do it as a means to an end is extrinsic. Students often perform tasks for reasons that are both intrinsically and extrinsically motivated. A distinction often is made between learning goals and performance goals (e.g., Cavallo, Rozman, & Potter, 2004). College students with learning goals focus on the challenge and mastery of a science task. Students with performance goals often are preoccupied with gaining social status, pleasing teachers, and avoiding extra work. Self-determination is the ability to have choices and some degree of control in what we do and how we do it (Reeve, Hamm, & Nix, 2003). When college science students have the opportunity to help determine what their educational activities will be, they are more likely to benefit from them (Glynn & Koballa, 2005). Bandura (1997) defined self-efficacy as beliefs in ones capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to produce given attainments (p. 3). When science education researchers use the term, they refer to the confidence a student has about his or her ability to succeed in a field of science (Koballa & Glynn, in press). All students experience anxiety from time to time, particularly in college science courses (Seymore, 1992). A moderate level of anxiety is good, in fact, in that it helps motivate learning (Cassady & Johnson, 2002). The Science Motivation Questionnaire (SMQ) assesses six components of motivation: intrinsically motivated science learning, extrinsically motivated science learning, relevance of learning science to personal goals, responsibility (self-determination) for learning science, confidence (self-efficacy) in learning science, and anxiety about science assessment (Glynn & Koballa, 2006).

*Science topics that seem to involve more than rational thinking, such as biological evolution and the environmental protection, have come to be associated with affective learning and invoke the use of teaching strategies that tap aspects of the affective domain. Further, geoscientists and science teachers in general cannot disregard the preparation of students for life in which social, political and economic changes in society will be affected by science and technology. Many of these changes are coupled to controversy. A key to success in dealing with controversial issues and problems in science teaching is to recognize that leaning is influenced by affect and may involve allowing greater student choice and self-direction, assessing student learning in different ways, and teaching from an interdisciplinary perspective, which may mean dealing with content on the fringe of ones com fort zone. Both issues and problems can be the focus of questions that spur student explorations and investigations. Giving attention to controversial issues is becoming more common place in introductory university science courses. According to Ballantyne and Bain (1995), instruction for effectively addressing controversial issues and problems in science classes are those that induce cognitive conflict (cognitive dissonance) and encourage learners to reconcile incompatible ideas by seeking information or striving to reorganize their existing knowledge. It is through their efforts to reconcile incompatible ideas that students rely on their beliefs, feelings and emotions. *Issue and problem awareness provides students with the opportunity to confront various areas of conflict and confusion that are of specific concern to them, in a constructive and systematic way (Simon, Hartwell, & Hawkins, 1973). A relatively easy way to implement issues awarness is to find an article on a social issue or problem Awarding monetary compensation for flood damage to home owners who rebuild in flood prone areas. Some teachers use the four-corner strategy where corners of the classroom as assigned the ratings of strongly agree, agree, disagree, and strongly disagree. A second approach is to use vignettes that focus on societal issues or problems. [Read vignette on cryogenics.]

Issue and problem investigation stresses the organization of factual information, the presentation of arguments and evidence, the separation of fact from opinion, and sensitivity to individuals who disagree about issues and problems. Both investigative approach, analytical decision-making and structured controversy, may culminate in students making decisions that affect their lives and the lives of others. For example, some communities are considering whether or not to use some of their land for long-term storage of radioactive waste. When, using the analytical decision-making approach, students must learn about the issue or problem. For example, they must learn about radiation and half-life and about the safety record of similar facilities. Students much also research the beneficial effects of a storage site to the community--jobs at the site, local economy, In moving from factual learning to reasoned decision making, students will also consider their own attitudes and the attitudes of the community impacted by the storage facility.

The structured controversy approach incorporates the unique feature of perspective reversal to help students focus on both the benefits and risks associated with a decision about whether or not to make land available or the storage of radioactive waste. Students are assigned randomly to learn either the pro or con position. After learning their assigned position and arguing forcefully in support of it, each pair of students is then required to learning and present the opposite position. By ensuring that all students understand both sides of the issue, reversing perspectives leads to collaborative decision making where the focus is not on winners and losers but rather on the best possible solution (Johnson & Johnson, 1988).