Frontline Learning Research

University Student’s Emotional States during Virtual Learning

Eija Henritius — 2025-05-26

This research examines students' emotional states during a virtual course at a Finnish university. The mixed methods study drew on students' self-reported commitment, self-efficacy, experienced emotions, and open-ended descriptions related to their emotions. The sample consisted of 85 students. Data were collected at nine measurement points during a half semester foundation course in statistics. Through latent profile analysis (LPA), we identified five distinct learner profiles described as the “Average”, “Struggling”, “Thriving”, “Victorious”, and “Determined”, and analyzed how they differ based on students’ gender, form of course implementation, previous attempts at the same course, and performance. Female students dominated in the “Average”, “Determined”, “Struggling”, and” Victorious” profiles. In all profiles, students mainly chose the blended learning implementation. In the “Struggling” profile, there were more students who had failed or had incomplete previous attempts at the course compared to other profiles. The students in the “Victorious” and “Thriving” profiles had the best exam results. The longitudinal design revealed distinct study experiences amongst the five profiles and pinpointed that most of the challenges took place in the middle of the course. The study contributes with understanding of the emotional challenges and challenges related to commitment- and self-efficacy in students’ learning process that could go unnoticed with fewer measurement points. The multi-measurement point approach along with the identification of emotion profiles makes a novel contribution to the field.

Yupana Inka Tawa Pukllay arithmetic eye tracking analysis: novices

Rosario Guzman-Jimenez — 2025-05-27

The concept of number emerges from the interaction of psychological, behavioral, and material elements of numerical cognition, collapsing the distinction between "abstract" and "concrete." This dual nature is evident in the Inca numerical system, where tools like the yupana integrate abstract numerical concepts with concrete materials. The Yupana Inka Tawa Pukllay (YITP), a Peruvian arithmetic method, enhances mathematical and visual-spatial skills through tile-based board games. While effective with children, its impact on university students is unexplored. This research used eye tracking to study gaze and attention during YITP operations, comparing novices and experts. Eight university students and two experts participated, with eye-tracking data and scatter plot (dispersion plot) analyses collected using Tobii Pro Glasses. The study introduced the Variation Ratio Tokens (VRT) metric to assess visual attention efficiency, showing significant improvements in VRT dispersion and attention during the arithmetic learning process. These findings suggest YITP's potential in higher education for improving cognitive processes and arithmetic performance, laying a foundation for future research and innovative educational practices. This work establishes a foundation for cross-cultural cognitive studies and innovative STEM education approaches leveraging ancestral knowledge systems.

Addressing boundary conditions of cognitive and motivational effects of gamified learning

Stefan Huber — 2025-09-12

There is a growing interest in developing gamified learning solutions to address educational challenges. However, learning is highly influenced by the conditions in which it takes place (e.g., does gamified learning in a laboratory setting replicate the outcomes of gamified learning online at home?). Hence, it is crucial to understand the boundary conditions of different learning contexts to effectively implement gamified interventions that provide optimal learner support. This work contributes to such an understanding by assessing how general contextual aspects of three studies on gamified learning influence cognitive learning and motivational outcomes. Therefore, we re-examined the results of two earlier published online studies (Study 1: n=285; Study 2: n=61) and compared the results to a recently conducted laboratory study (Study 3: n=121), all of which employed the same associative learning task. Comparing results through a Bayesian lens, we find that motivational outcomes induced by gamification differ substantially between contexts. In contrast, cognitive learning outcomes seem comparatively robust across different contextual factors, with some indication of subtle influences in agreement with cognitive learning theories. Implications are discussed for future empirical research on learning, highlighting how a better understanding of boundary conditions of gamified learning interventions could open perspectives for context-aware educational interventions.