Subject: [IFETS-DISCUSSION:901] Emotions and Learning - Thanks for the Responses
From: Barry Kort (bkort@musenet.org)
Date: Sat 13 Jan 2001 - 02:32:51 MET
From: Barry Kort <bkort@musenet.org> Subject: [IFETS-DISCUSSION:901] Emotions and Learning - Thanks for the Responses Date: Fri, 12 Jan 2001 20:32:51 -0500 (EST)
Wow. I was astonished at how many people responded -- both on the list
and in private e-mail -- to my question about fear as a factor in
learning. Your responses reinforced my impression that emotions in
general (including fear and anxiety) can be significant factors in
learning. Most respondents who shared their experience and insights
were concerned about situations in which fear arrested the learning
process, although some respondents pointed out some interesting examples
where fear motivated and facilitated learning.
For the past two days I've been at a National Science Foundation (NSF)
meeting of researchers who are interested in ways to improve learning,
especially in science, math, engineering and technology.
I am pleased to report that this research community has begun to
embrace new research initiatives that address the role of emotions
in learning. There is much work to be done in this area, to transform
what many people seem to know intuitively or through personal experience
into a comprehensive and useful model of the relationship between emotions
and learning.
At the outset, the NSF views this research as somewhat speculative,
involving high risk, but also promising high reward.
I shared with the good folks at the NSF meeting the starting point
our investigation under their sponsorship. An earlier version of this
material can be found on the Web at:
http://www.musenet.org/bkort/EmotionsAndLearning
Prior to obtaining support from the NSF, I summarized my experience
from the unfunded years in an earlier Web-published article, "Bring
a Candle, Not a Sparkler," at
Now that there is a funded team of co-researchers working with me at
the MIT Media Lab, I hope we can accelerate the progress in putting
this work on a solid scientific footing, subject to peer reveiew, and
make it part of the recognized literature in Learning Theory.
Again, I thank the participants of this list for their responses and
for their interest in this subject.
Barry Kort, Ph.D.
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