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1. Putting Affect in Context: Meta-Affect, Beliefs, & Engineering Identity

   Plagge, Alyndra; Treadway, Emma; Swenson, Jessica; Usinski, Danielle (June 2024, ASEE Annual Conference proceedings)

   In this research paper, we sought to understand how meta-affect influences the strength of engineering identity in first-year students, since strong engineering identity is correlated with retention. Meta-affect refers to affect about affect, cognition about affect, and monitoring of affect. Goldin’s research on meta-affect has suggested that there is a cycle wherein students’ beliefs establish meta-affective contexts that in turn shape the experience of affective pathways. We analyzed transcripts of interviews conducted with students during their first year in an engineering program. The primary goal of the interviews was to gain insight into engineering students’ affect towards math, science, and engineering and their engineering identity. For this comparative case study, we focus on three students with different engineering identities. Our goal was to investigate and provide evidence for the trends and relationships between beliefs, meta-affective-context, and affect and their influence on engineering identity. We found relationships between meta-affect and engineering identity related to specific beliefs: beliefs concerning getting help, the challenges of engineering, and performance ability. These relationships had different implications for the students’ identities depending on the students’ meta-affective contexts and affect. Understanding the relationship between these factors can help instructors promote more productive beliefs and meta-affect. This could potentially help strengthen engineering identity and increase retention of students within engineering. 

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2. Dipoles affect conformational equilibrium

   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jphotochem.2025.116362  

   Espinoza, Eli M; O’Mari, J Omar; Derr, James B; Billones, Mimi Karen; Clark, John A; Morales, Maryann; Szreder, Tomasz; Xia, Bing; Ceballos, Javier; Červinka, Ctirad; et al (August 2025, Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A: Chemistry)
3. Sensing Affect to Empower Students: Learner Perspectives on Affect-Sensitive Technology in Large Educational Contexts

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3386527.3405917  

   Wang, Q; Jing, S; Joyner, D.; Wilcox, L.; Hong, L.; Plötz, T.: DiSalvo (July 2020, Learning@Scale)

   Large-scale educational settings have been common domains for affect detection and recognition research. Most research emphasizes improvements in the accuracy of affect measurement to enhance instructors’ efficiency in managing large numbers of students. However, these technologies are not designed from students’ perspectives, nor designed for students’ own usage. To identify the unique design considerations for affect sensors that consider student capacities and challenges, and explore the potential of affect sensors to support students’ self-learning, we conducted semi-structured interviews and surveys with both online students and on-campus students enrolled in large in-person classes. Drawing on these studies we: (a) propose using affect data to support students’ self-regulated learning behaviors through a “scaling for empowerment” design perspective, (b) identify design guidelines to mitigate students’ concerns regarding the use of affect data at scale, (c) provide design recommendations for the physical design of affect sensors for large educational settings. 

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4. Engineering students' epistemic affect and meta‐affect in solving ill‐defined problems

   https://doi.org/10.1002/jee.20579  

   Swenson, Jessica; Treadway, Emma; Beranger, Krista (February 2024, Journal of Engineering Education)

   Abstract BackgroundReal‐world engineering problems are ill‐defined and complex, and solving them may arouse negative epistemic affect (feelings experienced within problem‐solving). These feelings fall into sequenced patterns (affective pathways). Over time, these patterns can alter students' attitudes toward engineering. Meta‐affect (affect or cognition about affect) can shape or reframe affective pathways, changing a student's problem‐solving experience. Purpose/Hypothesis(es)This paper examines epistemic affect and meta‐affect in undergraduate students solving ill‐defined problems called open‐ended modeling problems (OEMPs), addressing two research questions: What epistemic affect and transitions between different affective states do students report? And, how does meta‐affect shape students' affective experiences? Design/MethodWe examined 11 retrospective interviews with nine students performed across two semesters in which students completed OEMPs. Using inductive and deductive coding with discourse analysis, we systematically searched for expressions conveying epistemic affect and for transitions in affect; we performed additional deductive coding of the transcripts for meta‐affect and synthesized these results to formulate narratives related to affect and meta‐affect. ResultsTogether, the expressions, transitions, and meta‐affect suggest different types of student experiences. Depending on their meta‐affect, students either recounted experiences dominated by positive or negative affect, or else they experienced negative emotions as productive. ConclusionsIll‐defined complex problems elicit a wide range of positive and negative emotions and provide opportunities to practice affective regulation and productive meta‐affect. Viewing the OEMPs as authentic disciplinary experiences and/or the ability to view negative emotions as productive can enable overall positive experiences. Our results provide insight into how instructors can foster positive affective pathways through problem‐scaffolding or their interactions with students. 

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5. Does Teleporting Length Affect Spatial Awareness?

   https://doi.org/10.1109/ISMAR-Adjunct60411.2023.00034  

   Yao, Qinchen; Zhao, Yu; Creem-Regehr, Sarah H.; Stefanucci, Jeanine K.; Bodenheimer, Bobby (October 2023, 2023 IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality Adjunct (ISMAR-Adjunct))

   Teleporting, or jumping, is a common method of moving through virtual environments. It provides a simple user interface, but deprives users of self-motion cues that are important to acquiring spatial knowledge. This paper examines one parameter of the teleportation interface, the teleportation or jump distance, and how that may affect spatial knowledge acquisition. We report the results of an experiment that examined the effects of two different, but fixed teleportation distances on how users could acquire knowledge of landmarks and routes. The results suggest that the teleport distance does not matter, hence teleportation as an interface is robust. However, use of teleportation resulted in significantly increased simulator sickness, a surprising result. 

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