Positive emotions in education

Abstract

In this chapter, we focus on the student side of educational settings. More specifically, we give an overview of our research addressing students' academic emotions, that is, their emotions relating to learning, instruction, and achievement in academic settings associate with attending class, studying, and taking tests and exams. In so doing, we address the following problems in turn: (1) How frequently are positive emotions experienced by students at school and university, and which positive emotions pay a role in academic settings (occurrence)? )2) How can students' positive emotions be assessed (measurement)? (3) How do these emotions influence student' learning and achievement (effects)? (4) What are the origins of these emotions in students' personality, classroom instruction, and social environments, and what can be done to foster them (antecedents and intervention)? In conclusion, we will stress the importance of strengthening research on positive emotions as well as positive emotion-based intervention in general, and in education specifically.