AFFECTIVE DOMAIN IN TEACHING

Subscales

Teaching/Learning strategies

Intrinsic goal
orientation

Encourage students to set their own learning goals. Assign authentic tasks
that incorporate students personal interests and that show how to interpret
the familiar world around them. Emphasize understanding rather than
memorization of a topic. Highlight situational interest by displaying
enthusiasm for a topic, featuring novelty, variety, creativity or controversy
in lessons, have students role play within the context of lesson, or have
students manipulate physical models.

Extrinsic goal
orientation

Explain grading criteria and ensure exams reflect course goals. Give
students opportunities to practice with similar questions prior to exams.
Reinforce student confidence in their ability to master material through
notes or emails suggesting potential learning strategies and encouraging
students when they have done something well or shown significant
improvement.

Task value

Collect information on student interests and design assignments related to

those topics or to current events or sometimes to emotionally charged
events. Make explicit reference to the relevance of specific learning tasks
and the skills they involve for future personal or professional goals. Vary
the character of tasks to match different student learning styles and provide
sufficient time and support to ensure students have an opportunity to
successfully complete the task.

Control of
learning beliefs

Discuss initial MSLQ scores and provide feedback on how to improve

scores, model effective learning strategies in class, and explain that factors
such as effort often have more influence on student performance than prior
ability in science. Solicit student feedback about classroom practices or
give students opportunities to make choices about classroom rules, due
dates for some exercises, the format of assignments (e.g., essay vs. drawing
vs. concept map), or the components of a grading rubric.

Self-efficacy

Use scaffolding strategies that build complex knowledge upon a foundation

of more basic information and give formative assessments at each stage of
learning to confirm student understanding. Promote mastery of
challenging tasks through small-group activities. Provide students with
multiple opportunities to complete assignments by providing feedback on
drafts of papers or using testing strategies such pyramid exams. Remind
students that peers have had success on similar assignments and show
examples of successful peer models (e.g., as class tutors). Rewards should
be greater for more challenging tasks, few penalties for errors.

Test anxiety

Review test-taking tips with class, provide multiple opportunities to take

AFFECTIVE DOMAIN IN TEACHING

tests (from a larger question bank), offer partial credit for written
explanations for incorrect responses on multiple choice questions, and
provide supplementary learning opportunities (e.g., tutoring), teach
students specific study strategies.
Rehearsal,
Elaboration,
Organization

In-class formative assessment should model learning strategies. For

example, students could create mnemonics or make lists of key terms,
summarize key points or generate an outline of the text or lecture, respond
to conceptual multiple choice questions, or create a graphic organizer for
the class material (e.g., concept maps).

Metacognition

Encourage students to set specific learning goals for reading assignments,

model the use of rehearsal, elaboration and organization (e.g., writing a
summary sentence for each paragraph read), have students describe the
steps needed to solve a problem or complete an assignment, ask students to
reflect on specific learning experiences from other college classes.

Time/study
management

Have students develop specific study objectives and weekly study

calendars for the class, and ask them to track how they use their study time
during the week and on specific assignments. Encourage students to
consider and discuss the ideal environments for thinking, reading, or
writing tasks.

Effort regulation

Promote discussion of factors that interfere with learning and how to

overcome them. Encourage students to set specific study goals and have
them brainstorm on ways to avoid distraction.

Peer learning

Students are more motivated as part of a learning community than as an

individual in a class. Classes that employ informal or formal collaborative
groups to answer in-class assignments or to discuss materials covered in
lecture are more likely to foster motivation.

Help seeking

Hold a discussion on why students do or do not seek help. Describe helpseeking among faculty in research or review settings. Provide an
opportunity for students to analyze where they need help through meetings
with the instructor, graduate assistants, or undergraduate tutors. Instructors
should invite struggling students to consider seeking help.