Measuring emotions in mathematics: the Achievement Emotions Questionnaire-Mathematics (AEQ-M)

Area of Science:

• Educational Psychology
• Mathematics Education Research

Background:

• Student emotions in mathematics education are of significant interest, often assessed using the Achievement Emotions Questionnaire-Mathematics (AEQ-M).
• The AEQ-M measures seven emotions across different contexts, theoretically linked to control-value appraisals and influencing motivation and performance.
• Prior research has lacked published validation studies for the AEQ-M's internal structure and external relations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To address the lack of published validation for the AEQ-M.
• To demonstrate the organization of emotions across contexts and their links to antecedents and outcomes.
• To provide evidence for the assumption that emotions comprise interrelated affective, cognitive, motivational, and physiological/expressive components.

Main Methods:

• Study 1 (N=781, Grades 5-10) analyzed the internal structure and external relations of emotions measured by the AEQ-M.
• Study 2 (N=699, Grades 7 and 9) evaluated extended AEQ-M scales assessing affective, cognitive, motivational, and physiological/expressive components for five core emotions.

Main Results:

• Study 1 confirmed that students' emotions are organized across class, learning, and test contexts and are linked to their proposed antecedents and outcomes.
• Study 2 provided evidence supporting the assumption that emotions consist of interrelated affective, cognitive, motivational, and physiological/expressive components.

Conclusions:

• This research offers robust validation for the AEQ-M's internal structure and external relations in mathematics education.
• The findings support the AEQ-M's utility in assessing the multifaceted components of students' mathematics-related emotions.
• The study establishes a solid foundation for future research utilizing the AEQ-M.