Abstract:

This study examined the relationship between the subjective negative feeling states that undergraduate students felt about a research methods course and of their course performance. A total of 106 undergraduates were surveyed about their subjective feeling states at both the beginning and the end of the term. These feeling variables were correlated with their course performance variables (exam scores, research paper scores, and final course grades). The results found that the more reduction in subjective negative feelings students had, the better they performed in the course. This study also examined what aspects of the research methods course that students felt negative about. This research contributes to the scholarship of teaching and learning by highlighting the importance of students’ feeling state and how it might influence students’ learning in college-level courses. This research also expands the current knowledge in this relationship by examining what aspects students felt negative about a particular course, which might guide us on how to teach it in the future.

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