Elsevier

Learning and Individual Differences

Volume 70, February 2019, Pages 169-181
Learning and Individual Differences

The role of achievement emotions in the collaborative problem-solving performance of adolescents

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2019.02.005Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Achievement emotions are associated with the collaborative problem solving (CPS) performance of adolescents

  • Enjoyment is positively linked to adolescents’ CPS performance

  • Anger and boredom negatively influence adolescents’ CPS performance

Abstract

We explored the relationship between adolescents' activity-based achievement emotions and their performance during collaborative problem solving (CPS) tasks, which was operationalized as having objective social and cognitive performance dimensions. Participants were 100 adolescent dyads (n = 200) who completed a series of five computer-based CPS tasks while their activity emotions of enjoyment, boredom, and anger were recorded. It was hypothesized, using a partially mediated structural regression model, that individual differences in students' activity emotions would be linked to effort regulation, which in turn, would be associated with both CPS social and cognitive performance. On the basis that more effective collaboration efforts enable better cognitive performance, we also expected CPS social performance to influence CPS cognitive performance. Our hypothesized model fit the data well. All emotions were associated with effort regulation, and effort regulation influenced cognitive performance but showed a weak association with social performance. Instead, anger and enjoyment affected CPS social performance directly. Our findings provide valuable insight into the role of affective experiences in the growing area of measuring 21st century skills in educational settings.

Introduction

Collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and creativity (also known as the “four C's”) have been identified among the most important skills for children and adolescents to possess, and are also considered key factors for success in the twenty-first century work environment (Care, Kim, Anderson, & Gustafsson-Wright, 2017; Griffin, McGaw, & Care, 2012). Consequently, education systems in at least 50 nations have progressively begun to incorporate these skills into their curricula and teaching pedagogy (Care, Anderson, & Kim, 2016). In response to this global shift in pedagogical demands, many studies have identified collaborative problem solving (CPS) as an essential component of modern academic curricula within the focus of teaching and assessing the “four C's” (see Care, Griffin, & Wilson, 2017).

Collaborative problem solving (CPS) is defined as “a joint activity where dyads or small groups execute a number of steps in order to transform a current state into a desired goal state” (Hesse, Care, Buder, Sassenberg, & Griffin, 2015, p. 39). Some studies have examined student-related factors that affect collaborative learning, including how collaborative interactions influence problem-solving outcomes (see Barron, 2003), the effect of non-verbal collaboration (Teasley, 1995) or the effect of having a more competent problem-solving partner (Tudge, 1992). However, there is a dearth of research examining emotions as factors associated with adolescents' CPS performance, despite it being recognized as a critical skill for educational and professional success. Evaluating the links between student emotions and CPS performance is particularly important, as recent evidence shows that emotions play a fundamental role in educational outcomes (Pekrun, Goetz, Titz, & Perry, 2002; Tze, Daniels, & Klassen, 2016). In a CPS context, for instance, emotions such as enjoyment are likely to enhance task engagement and willingness to externalize thoughts, which could help improve social cooperation (Kwon, Liu, & Johnson, 2014; Nelson & Sim, 2014). Similarly, negative emotions such as boredom can undermine motivation to invest effort in the challenges that arise during collaborative settings, such as communication or sharing ideas (Do & Schallert, 2004), and may also prompt cognitive interference (Sarason, Pierce, & Sarason, 1996).

Hence, the influence of emotions on performance is complex, and discrete emotions are thought to differentially impact motivational and regulatory processes that mediate learning and performance (Pekrun, 2006). Among these, effort regulation is understood as a general capability that involves student attempts to govern energy expended on doing well in schoolwork, even when this may result in difficult, boring, or uninteresting experiences (Pintrich, 2004). Effort regulation has been strongly associated with both students' emotions (Pekrun et al., 2002; Pekrun, Goetz, Frenzel, Barchfeld, & Perry, 2011) and educational outcomes (Donker, de Boer, Kostons, Dignath van Ewijk, & van der Werf, 2014; Hattie, 2008; Tangney, Baumeister, & Boone, 2004) and may operate as an intermediary link between emotions and CPS performance. This hypothesis will be tested in this study. In particular, we aim to address a) the extent to which emotions experienced by adolescents when working on CPS tasks are linked to CPS performance, (b) the extent to which effort regulation mediates these performance relations, and (c) how different aspects of CPS performance are related.

We begin with an examination of the growing area of collaborative problem-solving in more detail, and then explore the proposed relations between the constructs in our proposed model. Finally, we turn to the study itself.

Section snippets

Collaborative problem-solving in educational settings

Two sets of hierarchical skills are deemed crucial to CPS: social skills and cognitive skills (Hesse et al., 2015). First, we will discuss each in turn individually, followed by a brief discussion of how they interact.

The use of social skills is essential to CPS, particularly three core strands including participation, perspective-taking, and social regulation (Hesse et al., 2015). Participation refers to the individual becoming actively involved in the stages of the problem-solving process,

Participants

Participants were a sample of 200 students (n = 100 female) with a mean age of 13.48 years (SD = 1.14), who were recruited from five government secondary schools located in the Melbourne metropolitan area, Victoria, Australia. Because 77% of secondary schools in Australia are government schools (ACARA, 2018), our sample was representative of a substantial proportion of the high school population in the country. Informed consent was provided by parents and students prior to participation. No

Measurement model validation

To investigate the validity of the measurement model, we used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). We used several goodness of fit indices to make decisions about the accuracy of the model, namely: chi-square, the comparative fit index (CFI), the Tucker and Lewis Index (TLI), as well as one closeness of fit indicator in the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA). Although there are no universally agreed cut-off criteria, rule of thumb conventions (see Hu & Bentler, 1999) suggest values

Discussion

Today, in the onset of the information age, technology is having a growing and transforming impact on the way we live, learn, work, and communicate. As a result, there has been a marked shift in job requirements, moving from routine cognitive and manual tasks to more complex thinking and communication skills, reflected by the four C's: critical thinking, creativity, communication and collaboration (Care, Kim, et al., 2017). These skills are captured within collaborative problem-solving (CPS), a

Conclusion

The present study provides insights into the role of affective experiences in the CPS performance of young people, by exploring whether three commonly experienced activity emotions – enjoyment, boredom, and anger – affect CPS performance via motivation to invest effort, as well as social connection. It was concluded, using a partially mediated structural regression model, that students' positive activity emotions (enjoyment) were associated with greater motivation to invest effort, which in

Acknowledgements/funding

This research was financially supported by the Science of Learning Research Centre under Grant number 19636; and the Australian Postgraduate Award scholarship.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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