Students whose anxiety, surprise or enjoyment decreased over the course achieved more positive learning-outcome change than students with stable trajectories in those emotions.¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causalr1·q2
Currency · newest study 2026 · checked against its sources 2026-10-19 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q2 i? Groups formed by individual emotion slopes did not differ at pre-test, but the decreasing-anxiety, decreasing-surprise and decreasing-enjoyment groups showed more positive change in concept-test scores; no associations were found for other emotions. → Ketonen 2026
Evidence¶
Ketonen 2026¶
Ketonen, E. E., Kruskopf, M., Lonka, K., & Mattlin, M. (2026). Dynamics of university students' epistemic emotions during game-based learning in an international relations course. Instructional Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11251-025-09771-2
q2 · i? · causal · r1
Mann-Whitney U comparisons of concept-test change scores between slope groups (n = 7–12 per group). Anxiety change: U = −2.07, p = 0.041; enjoyment: U = −2.46, p = 0.013; surprise: U = −2.01, p = 0.043. No effect sizes are printed.
"those students showing a decreasing rather than stable trend in either anxiety or surprise demonstrated more positive change in their test scores. Interestingly, those students exhibiting a decreasing trend in enjoyment actually demonstrated more positive change in their test scores than those showing a more stable trend"
Discussion¶
Learner Variables¶
- Academic Anxiety — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes
- Achievement Emotions — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes
- Affect Regulation — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes
- Interest — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes
Related Claims¶
- During the course, curiosity, enjoyment, confusion and anxiety decreased over time, boredom increased, and surprise and frustration remained stationary. — related
- Attending a game session rather than a lecture increased all epistemic emotions except boredom among university students in a Diplomacy-based international relations course. — related
- The session-type-by-time interaction showed anxiety increasing in game sessions while decreasing in lectures, and confusion declining more steeply in game sessions. — related
- Cognitive-only coaching increased deep and achieving learning approaches, academic self-concept, and reduced test anxiety and anxiety/depression, but academic performance declined relative to control; behavioural-only coaching decreased test anxiety and increased academic performance with no other effects. — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
decreasing-emotions-linked-better-learning-gains |
title |
Students whose anxiety, surprise or enjoyment decreased over the course achieved more positive learning-outcome change than students with stable trajectories in those emotions. |
description |
Students whose anxiety, surprise or enjoyment decreased over the course achieved more positive learning-outcome change than students with stable trajectories in those emotions. |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
moderate |
newest_evidence |
2026 |
source_checked |
2026-10-19 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-18 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — ketonen-2026 |
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