This engineering education research project seeks to understand how students' emotions play key roles in both learning engineering and their development of a professional identity. There is increasing evidence that emotion impacts learning, yet these connections are not yet well understood. By examining connections between emotions and learning, this project will inform the design of engineering degree programs which can connect scientific, technical, and social knowledge for the students and will design future solutions to societal problems.
The broader significance and importance of this project arise from how the research on emotion and learning can be used by educators to create better learning environments for engineering students. The project will also help students to better connect knowledge and adopt effective learning strategies. This project overlaps with NSF's strategic goals of transforming the frontiers through preparation of an engineering workforce with new capabilities and expertise. Additionally NSF's goal of innovating for society is enabled by building the capacity of the nation's citizenry for addressing societal challenges through engineering.
