Abstract:

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between students’ Skin Conductance (SC) and affective aspects during active learning and whether SC could serve as an indicator of affective evaluation during active learning. The effectiveness of active learning depends on the student’s characteristics. SC serves as a measure of psychophysiological sweating response by utilizing electrical resistance which reflects arousal levels. Polygraphs, commonly known as lie detectors, use SC to measure affective reactions [1]. Affective loads can cause changes in SC [2]. SC is expected to have educational applications in assessing students’ affective states in the classes. Assessing students’ affective states, such as anxiety, and designing active learning based on SC data can help optimize teaching strategies.

A total of 12 undergraduate and graduate students participated in active learning using the Jigsaw method, and their SC and affective states were measured. Students engaged in the following four activities: S1, S2, S3, and S4. In the S1 part, students read and comprehended the content of one of the two articles. In the S2 part, students were placed into expert groups composed of students who had read the same article and engaged in discussions within the expert group to deepen comprehension of the article. In the S3 part, the groups were reconfigured into jigsaw groups, composed of students who had read different articles. Students engaged in discussions within the jigsaw group. In the S4 part, students present the discussions. At the end of each activity, students filled out a questionnaire consisting of three factors: Positive Affect (PA) such as liveliness, Negative Affect (NA) such as anxiety, and Calmness (CA) such as calm, asking about their affective states during the activity.

A one-way analysis of variance was conducted on the results of SC values and questionnaire scores. For the SC values, the main effect was significant (F (3,33) =16.10, p<.01). Multiple comparisons in Bonferroni method showed that S2, S3 and S4 were significantly higher than S1 (p<.05). For the PA score, the main effect was significant (F (3,33) =12.93, p<.01). Multiple comparisons in Bonferroni method showed that S2 and S3 activities were statistically significantly higher than S4 (p<.05). For the NA score, the main effect was significant (F (3,33) =10.89, p<.01). Multiple comparisons in Bonferroni method showed that S4 was statistically significantly higher than S1, S2, S3 (p<.05). For the CA score, the main effect was significant (F (3,33) =7.50, p<.01). Multiple comparisons in Bonferroni method showed that S1 was statistically significantly higher than S4 (p<.05).

Based on SC data, it was clarified that collaborative learning activities such as discussions and presentations with other students increased students’ arousal levels. In terms of affective aspects, students experienced positive affect during discussions and negative affect during presentations, suggesting a need for improvements in class dynamics to alleviate anxiety during presentations. The results indicated that SC could indicate whether students’ effect was aroused during active learning. Measuring SC may help educators improve classes to enhance students’ arousal levels.

[1] Gale, A. The polygraph test: Lies, truth and science. London: Sage Publications, 1998
[2] Bouscein. W, Electrodermal Activity. New York: Plenum Press, 1992

Keywords:

Skin Conductance, Active Learning, The Jigsaw Method.