Promoting students' emotions and achievement - Instructional design and evaluation of the ECOLE-approach

Emotions such as interest and anxiety are part of the learning process as well as cognition and motivation. In view of this, educational science should take emotional aspects of instruction into account. The ECOLE-approach (Emotional and Cognitive Aspects of Learning) presented in this paper is a theoretically guided educational approach based on a specific combination of both student-centered and direct instruction. ECOLE aims at improving the quality of instruction by increasing positive emotions and achievement, and by avoiding negative emotions. The results of a quasi-experimental intervention study conducted in 37 8th and 9th grade classrooms in southwestern Germany showed that emotions and above all achievement were enhanced by the ECOLE instruction. Results are discussed in terms of specific teaching strategies that enhance emotions and achievement in teaching units of biology, German, and physics.