Appraisals of instructional context, control beliefs and academic emotions. A case study with advanced university students

Abstract

In this paper we set out to provide contributions that reveal more about students who attend to university classrooms, from knowing their perceptions of the instructional context, the possibilities of taking control of their learning processes and the emotions they experience accordingly. We worked with an accidental sample (N=39) composed by all the students which in 2010 attended a course on the final part of the curriculum of a career of education at the Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto (Argentina). Data were collected through the MotivatedStrategies for Learning Questionnaire, the Achievement Emotions Questionnaire and focal semistructured interviews. The results are organized into four sections: a) appraisals attributed by students to instructional context; b) aspects of their control belief of learning; c) academic emotions experienced within the context of learning considered; d) statistically significant correlations between variables motivational and emotional focalized in this study. The final considerations are grouped into three categories: a) relevance of considering appraisals and control beliefs as antecedents of academic emotions; b) addressing the importance of tasks that are appreciated as significant for professional education and c) need to investigate into personal aspects in real contexts of learning.

Keywords

• valoraciones
• creencias de control
• emociones académicas
• contexto instructivo
• alumnos universitarios
• aprendizaje