Affect has been shown to be associated with increased performance and retention in STEM education, including specific targeted studies in postsecondary chemistry education. Correlation studies from early-term measures of affect and causal-intended studies from pre/post measures of affect are the most common means of studying affect in postsecondary chemistry education. The educational psychology literature suggests that such evaluation models fail to capture the complexity of affect development. Through a series of reciprocal causation, cross-lagged, and mediation models, we observe the influence of examination performance and feedback on affect in a series of organic chemistry courses; our results support the models of affect development suggested in the educational psychology literature. Implications will be offered for how to better construct evaluation studies in postsecondary chemistry education.

When is the optimum time to measure affect?: The impact of examination performance and feedback on affect in organic chemistry courses

255th National Meeting (2018)

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