Intensity of emotional energy in situated cultural practices of science education

This study addresses the need for innovative research approaches in science education for understanding better the inter-relationships between emotion and cognition in learning, using a sociological perspective. Our perspective draws upon the concept of emotional energy that is described as an outcome from successful social interactions during micro-social situations. We apply an intensity model of emotional energy to school science contexts to explore the heterogeneity of emotional energy in terms of its dramatic features, evident through emphatic verbal and nonverbal actions. We also explore undramatic features evident in less obtrusive actions such as silences involving shared observation and glances, and evidence of fluctuations in intensity of emotional energy, and the interplay of emotional energy with discrete emotions over time. Drawing on empirical data from video recordings of classroom interactions in ninth- and tenth-grade science classes, we adopt an ethnomethodological orientation to develop a fine-grained description of classroom situations involving emotional energy. Subsequent application of the intensity model enables description of intensity variations in emotional energy across time, as a biological–social experience evident through feelings, ideas, and bodily movements. By emphasizing taken-for-granted undramatic emotional energy, the study contributes to science education by extending the previous research on emotions from sociocultural perspectives. The present study finds co-relatedness between intensity fluctuations in emotional energy and students achieving understanding of scientific ideas. Future research may focus on the refinement of the intensity model, with its evaluation and application in different science learning environments.