Education degree students dealing with university tasks: Emotion and cognition

Abstract

Emotions play a key role in learning experiences. However, little has been studied regarding a) the emotions students experience when dealing with different university situations and b) the cognitive component of emotion in this context, despite its acknowledged importance. For these reasons, this study was aimed at delving into the understanding of students’ emotions in self-perceived meaningful situations, as well as the self-talk linked to them. 410 situations - together with the emotions and thoughts related to them - were analyzed, identified by 141 Primary Education Bachelor’s Degree students (102 women and 39 men). The average age was 20.16, SD= 2.22, ranging from 18 to 35.The analysis was carried out through lexical analysis (Reinert method), which was complemented and refined by a Factorial Analysis of Correspondences using Iramuteq software. The results showed that the most significant emotions for students were anxiety when doing oral presentations, anger when working in groups and joy resulting from obtaining good results after making an effort. This research raises the need for reconsidering different methodological aspects of the bachelor’s degree, as well as the importance of including emotional intelligence in the same. It also brings to light the relevance of training students in social conflict resolution and anxiety reduction skills together with academic selfregulation abilities.