An Investigation of Self-Efficacy and Topic Emotions in Entry-Level Engineering Design Learning Activities

摘要

Little is known about the impact self-efficacy and topic emotions have on novice engineering students when first exposed to an engineering design course. Freshman students may have difficulties regulating their emotions when exposed to new or complex topics such as engineering design. Consequently, they may become frustrated or discouraged as the semester progresses that can lead to feelings of hopelessness and anxiety. In contrast, novice students may experience feelings of hope and interest that may foster positive learning outcomes in engineering design. The authors explored freshmen engineering students' (n = 58) levels of self-efficacy and topic emotions while participating on a freshmen-level engineering and graphics design course. Our findings suggests that while positive and negative topic emotions are inversely related, both seem to be associated with self-efficacy. Further, topic emotions appear to mediate self-efficacy as topic emotions such as curiosity, happiness, and interest were reported by engineering students during engineering design activities. Self-efficacy increased over the course of the semester for these freshman engineering design students.