LESSON 5

Lesson Title Affective Learning Competencies

Let’s Hit These

 At the end of this lesson, students be able to craft affective

learning outcome for different levels in the affective domain.

Let’s Read

Besides students' academic performance, there are other dimensions of

learners that need to be assessed also. These are aptitudes and attitudes that are
related to the academic achievement of learners.
Information about learners' experiences with a subject or an activity is only
part of what is needed as input in order to explain their performance. In a class, it
would be an obvious evidence that experience appears to be consistent from
student to student (since they belong to the same class and were given the same
activity), still some perform better the than others. And this difference among
students needs to be part of the information to assess students better.
The learners' attitudes toward academic tasks influence their achievements.
Attitude is associated with what is called the individual's affective domain, and
affect adds a significant dimension to assessment. If there is a relationship
between how students feel about a task and their performance, it is but necessary
for teachers to assess affect and then do something to influence affect. It is not
just to help the students like the activities they do but to do it better. Attitude
measures are part of the broader category of personality measures. This area of
assessment is significant since information about personality characteristics gives
more information that will help in predicting how a particular set of learners will
likely respond to certain learning situation. In the general psychology course, a
more detailed study about personality is covered, but in this course the focus is its
connection to school and learners' achievement

Lesson 5.1 IMPORTANCE OF AFFECTIVE TARGETS

Researches have established the clear link between affect and cognitive
learning. Students are more proficient in problem-solving if they enjoy what
they do. Students who are in good mood and emotionally involved are more
likely to pay attention to information, remember it meaningfully and apply it.
Too much anxiety obstructs learning, and greater motivation is necessary for
maximum performance. A more positive environment fosters good student
engagement and learning than in a classroom with negative climate.
 Though the linkage of affect and learning of students has been well-
established, there remains very little systematic assessment of affect that is
applied in classroom instruction. Motivation and involvement students in learning
activities are affected by students' attitude toward learning, respect it others, and
concern for others. Though these factors are known to teachers, yet most teachers
do not utilize any kind of formal affective assessment. Possible reasons are: (1)
school routines are organized based on subject areas; and (2) assessment of
affective targets is fraught with difficulties.
Cognitive subject matter targets are agreed on as desirable for all
students. This places affect in a position of importance but still secondary to
cognitive learning. It also makes difficult to determine which affective targets
are appropriate for all students. It is simply not easy to define attitudes,
values, and interests.
The second possible reason is that many potential sources of error in
measuring affective traits often result in low reliability. Motivation is of
primary concern. Students need to take such assessments seriously to provide
accurate results, but still many may restrain from giving honest answer if the
responses are not treated with anonymity and confidentiality. It would be
easier to fake responses to self-report instruments if the results are to be used
for grading or some other purpose. Students may want to please the teachers
with positive responses. Other possible source of error is that some affective
traits are easily influenced by momentary or temporary moods. This is true for
younger students who may report more negative affect after a bad day or
session. Teachers' bias may also contribute significantly on what may be
recorded or perceived.
Though a lot of demotivating instances were mentioned in the previous
paragraphs, these discouraging instances should not hinder the assessment of the
students' affect Positive affective traits and skills are essential for:
 Effective Learning
 Being an involved and productive member of our society.
 Preparing for occupational and vocational satisfaction and
productivity (example: work habits, willingness to learn,
interpersonal skills)
 Maximizing the motivation to learn at present and in the future
 Preventing students from dropping out of school
Various ways by which teachers can signal to students that clearly defined
positive affect is important than just simply systematically assessing it. It begins
with identifying appropriate affect targets. In the next paragraph this action will
be explained more.
Lesson 5.2 AFFECTIVE TRAITS AND LEARNING TARGETS

The word affective refers to a variety of traits and dispositions that are
different from knowledge, reasoning, and skills. Technically, this term means the
emotions or feelings that one has toward someone or something. Nevertheless,
attitudes, values, self-concept, citizenship, and other traits are usually considered
to be non-cognitive, include more than emotions or feelings. Most kinds of student
affect involve both emotion and cognitive beliefs.

Different Affective Traits and its Corresponding Description

TRAITS DESCRIPTION
Predisposition to respond favorably or
unfavorably to specified situations,
Attitudes
concepts, objects, institutions, or
persons
Personal preference for certain
Interest
kinds of activities
Importance, worth, or usefulness of
Values modes or conduct and end states
of existence
Beliefs about specific occurrences and
Opinions
situations
Desire to select one object over
Preferences
another
Desire and willingness to be engaged
Motivation in behavior including intensity of
involvement
Self-perception of competence in
Academic Self-Concept
school and learning
Attitudes toward oneself; degree of
Self-Esteem self-respect, worthiness, or
desirability of self-concept
Self-perception of whether success
Locus of Control and failure is controlled by the student
or by external influences.
Growth, change, and awareness of
Emotional Development emotions and ability to regulate
emotional expression
Nature of interpersonal
Social Relationships
interactions and functioning in
group setting
Willingness and propensity to help
Altruism
others
Attainment of ethical principles that
Moral Development
guide decision-making and behavior
Nature of feeling tones and
Classroom Development
interpersonal relationship in a class
 Attitudes Targets
McMillan (1980) defines attitudes as internal states that influence
what students are likely to do. The internal state can in some degree
determine positive or negative or favorable or unfavorable reaction
toward an object, situation, person or group of objects, general
environment, or group of persons. It does not refer to behaviors, what a
student knows, right or wrong in a moral or ethical sense, or
characteristics such as race, age or socio-economic status. In a learning
institution, attitude is contingent on subjects, teachers, other students,
homework, and other objects or persons. Most often, one can identify
the positive or negative attitudes that a person intends to foster or at
least keep track of because these attitudes are related to current and
future behavior. Some of these attitude are listed in the table below:

A Positive Attitude Toward A Negative Attitude Toward

Learning Cheating
Math, Science, English, and other Drug use
subjects Bullying
Assignments Cutting classes
Classroom rules Dropping out
Teachers

In researches conducted by social psychologists, they found that

attitudes consist of three components or contributing factors:
1. An affective component of positive or negative feelings.
2. A cognitive component describing worth or value
3. A behavioral component indicating a willingness or desire to
engage in particular actions.
The affective component consists of the emotion or feeling
associated with an object or a person (good or bad feelings,
enjoyment, likes, comfort, anxiety, etc.). When the teacher
describes students as liking math or enjoying art, the teacher is
focusing on the affective component. The cognitive component is an
evaluative belief (such as thinking something as valuable, useful,
worthless, etc.). In school, students can think history is useless and
science valuable. The behavioral component is actually responding in
a positive way. A strong and stable attitude is manifested when all
three components are consistent. Which means that, a student like
science, the student thinks it is valuable, and reads science related
materials home, it translates that the student has a very strong
positive attitude. On the other hand, it likely that for many students,
these components will contradict one another. For example, Juana
may not like English very much but thinks that English is important.
The question is, what would her attitude be, in general sense, toward
English? That would depend on what components of the attitude is
being measured. If it is only affective component then the attitude
would be negative; but if it is the cognitive component, it would
translate to a positive attitude.
This trifocal conceptualization has significant implications for
identifying attitude targets. Does the assessment need to focus on
feelings, thoughts, or behavior? If the learning target for example is
 "students will have a positive attitude toward school" then the
assessment needs to include all the three components since the general
nature of target would need to be consistent with the assessment. But, if
the target is "students will like coming to school," then it would suffice
that the assessment focus only on the affective component.

 Value Targets
Generally, values refer either to end states of existence or to modes
of conduct that are desirable or sought. End states of existence refer to
conditions and aspects oneself and the kind of world that a person wants
such as safe life, world peace, freedom, happiness, social acceptance,
and wisdom. And modes of conduct are manifested in what a person
believe is appropriate and needed in everyday existence such as being
honest, cheerful, ambitious, loving, responsible, and helpful. Each of
these values can be placed 'alto categories consistent with different
areas of persons' lives. Hence, the aspects of moral, political, social,
aesthetic, economic, technological, and religious values.
McMillan (2007) suggested that in setting value targets, it is
necessary to stick to ion-controversial and those that are clearly
related to academic learning and school and department of education
goals. Some values that are commendable and non-controversial are
described in the table below:

Value Sample Value Target

Students should learn to value honesty in their
Honesty
dealing with others.
Students should firmly observe their own code of
Integrity
values.
Students should support the view that all
Justice citizens should be the recipients of equal
justice from
government law enforcement agencies.
Students should believe that democratic countries
Freedom must provide the maximum level of freedom to their
citizens.

 Motivation Targets
In education, motivation can be defined as the extent to which
students are involved in trying to learn. This includes the students'
initiation of learning, the intensity of effort exerted, the students'
commitment, and the students' persistence. In other words, motivation is
the determined engagement in learning in order to gain mastery of
knowledge or skills; students take learning seriously and give
importance to opportunities to learn.
Researches on motivation can be organized according to the
Expectancy X Value Framework (Brophy, 2004; Pintrich & Schunk, 2002).
The model implies that motivation is determined by students'
expectations, their beliefs about whether they are likely to be
successful, and the relevance of the outcome. Expectations refers to the
self-efficacy of the student. Self-efficacy is the student's self-perception
of his or her
 capability to perform successfully. Values are self-perception of the
importance of the performance. That is, the student see the relevance
of the activity. For example, the students evaluate the activity they
engage in if it is enjoyable or satisfying; Will it meet some social and
psychological need" (such as self-worth, competence, or belonging);
Will it help the student meet an important goal? Students who believe
that they have the capability to be successful and that the activity they
engage in themselves are important for them and relevant, they will be
highly motivate: to learn. Even if they value the outcome, and yet the
students believe that they don't have the capability to attain success,
their motivation will be weak. Similarly, there are many students
capable but are unmotivated because the activity that they are asked to
do holds no importance for these students.
Like attitudes, motivation is too ambiguous to use the general
definition as an outcome because it is difficult to pinpoint the source
of lack of effort and involvement. McMillan (2007) suggests that
motivation targets should focus on self-efficacy and value, distinct by
academic subject and type of learning (like knowledge,
understanding, reasoning). Belo are some examples of motivation
targets:
 Students will believe that they are capable of learning how to
write simple computer programs using Java. (self-efficacy)
 Students will believe that it is important to know how to write
simple computer programs using Java. (value)
In assessing motivation, it is important to consider why students are
learning, the reasons students' give for their actions. When students do
something or engage themselves in activities because they find the
activities interesting, enjoyable, or challenging, they are intrinsically
motivated. While extrinsic motivation is doing something because it
leads to a reward or punishment. Likewise, it has been shown that
students who are motivated by a need to understand and master the task
(mastery orientation) show more positive behavior and thinking as
compared to those who are doing something for the result or outcome
performance operation). Students who are for mastery orientation are
more engaged, have in general, inclination to generate solutions to
difficulties, and generate more positive credits to success and failure
(success attributed to ability and moderate effort; failure to lack of
effort.

 Academic Self-Concept Targets

Extensive literature on self-concept and self-esteem are available for
references. Most educators refer to these characteristics when dealing
with students who have problems with schoo1 and learning (e.g., "Juan
has a low self-concept," "Juana has a low opinion of herself"). It is
accepted that these beliefs are important even when controversy over
whether self-concept and self-esteem proceed or result from academic
learning. Some level of positive self-efficacy is needed for achievement.
It is likely that the said aspect of self-concept is formed, at least in part,
when children experience meaningful success with moderate effort.
In setting targets, it is helpful to remember that self-concept and
self- esteem are multidimensional. There is bodily self, an athletic
self, a
 mathematical self, a social self, and others. Each person has a self-
description in each area, that form one's self-concept or self-image.
Moreover, individuals have a sense of self-regard, self-affirmation, and
self-worth in each area (self-esteem). Hence, a student can have a self-
concept that he is tall and thin, but feel very comfortable with it and
accept the description. On the contrary there can be another student
who has the same self-concept but feel inferior or inadequate, thus,
have a low self-esteem.
In assessing the academic self-concept, universal self-concept,
and self-esteem targets must be avoided including self-description
and an evaluation of that description. General self-concept measured
through attitudes and motivations is not beneficial since general self-
concept are from areas not directly related to academic learning.
Through specifying academic self-concept or self-concept in
academic ability a more valid indication of what students think of
themselves as learners will be known. Targets that are specific to
subject areas will yield to a more useful information. In addition, it is
also helpful to know where students draw the line between
descriptions of themselves and if they like those descriptions. For
cases of more serious mental or emotional problems, a general
measure may be needed, however, it is best to leave those kind of
assessments for such cases to school psychologist or counselor.

 Social Relationship Targets

A complex set of interaction skills, including identification of and
appropriate responses to social indications, defines social relationships.
The table below contains examples of the nature of social relationships
that can be used as targets.

Peer relations Cooperation Taking a stand

Friendship Collaboration Conflict Resolution Asse
Functioning in groups Prosocial behavior

The examples cited in the table are mostly relevant in basic

education, specifically in the elementary level as these social traits
are needed skills in their academic achievement. And at the
secondary level, social traits that enhances interpersonal abilities are
becoming more important as the schools work with the business
community to assess the need specifically those needs pertaining to
skills necessary to be successful in the workplace. Moreover, social
interaction is a key element of knowledge construction, active
learning and deep understanding. As long as there are interactions
that happen, students need to make necessary adjustments in their
thinking and actions so as to accommodate others' viewpoints, to
defend their ideas to others, and to share their opinions. These
exercises encourage a deep understanding and keep student involved.
In addition, interaction can help promote good reasoning, and
problem-solving skills through observation and engagement in such
activities.
 Example of Social Relationship Area and Corresponding Targets

Social Relationship Target Concern Example

Showing interest
in others
Students will share
Listening to peers
Peer Relationship their ideas in a
Sharing to a group
small group
Contributing to group
discussion
activities
Sharing
Listening
Volunteering ideas
Students will
and suggestions
demonstrate that they
Supporting and
Cooperative Skills are able to negotiate
accepting others'
with others and
ideas
compromise
Taking turns
Criticizing
constructively

Collaborative skills needed to work in small groups may include

four components namely: (1) basic interaction; (2) getting along; (3)
coaching; and (4) fulfilling particular roles.

 Classroom Environment Targets

In every classroom there is a unique climate that is felt at every point
in time. Some manifest a comfortable atmosphere, others have relaxed
and productive ambiance. As a result, there are classes that are happy
and content while others are serious and tensed due so the effect of the
classroom climate. It follows that students behave differently as dictated
also by the classroom climate, some shows warm and supportive class
while others register as cold and rejecting. All these situations are what
is known as classroom environment, classroom climate, or classroom
culture.
As affective target, learning should seek to establish student feelings,
relationships, and beliefs that promote positive classroom environment.

CHARACTERISTICS DESCRIPTION
The extent to which student like and accept
Affiliation
each other.
The extent to which students are interested in
Involvement
and engaged in learning
The extent to which classroom activities are
Task Orientation
focused on the completion of academic tasks
The extent to which students share norms and
Cohesiveness
expectations
The emphasis on competition between
Competition
students
 Whether each student enjoys the
Favoritism
same privileges
The extent to which each student influences
Influence
classroom decisions
The extent to which students bicker with one
Friction
another
Formality The emphasis on imposing rules
The extent to which communication among
Communication students and with teacher is honest and
authentic
Warmth The extent to which students care about each
other and show concern

One of the relevant inputs to improve the classroom environment

is to compare students' perspectives with those of teachers'
perspectives as far as classroom ambiance. For example, the students
perceive that there is a need to establish a more positive classroom
environment while on the other hand, the teachers see that the
classroom environment is more positive. The difference on the
perceptions of the students and the teachers with respect to the
level of positivity of the classroom environment is a good source of
information to identify what areas to improve in the classroom
environment so as to maximize student learning.
Lesson 5.3 AFFECTIVE DOMAIN OF THE TAXONOMY OF EDUCATIONAL
OBJECTIVES

In 1964, David R. Krathwohl, together with his colleagues, extended

Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives by publishing the second
taxonomy of objectives, this time giving emphasis on the affective domain.
Krathwohl and his collaborators attempted to subdivide the affective realm
into relatively distinct divisions. Five different levels of affective objectives
were described in the affective taxonomy. These levels are described in the
following table.

Level Description Example

Concerned with student's
sensitivity to the existence of
certain phenomena and stimuli,
that is, with student's willingness
to receive or to attend to this
stimuli.
It is categorized in three
Student does
subdivisions that shows the
Receiving mathematics activities for
different levels of attending to
grade.
phenomena:
1. Awareness of
the phenomena
2. Willingness to receive
the phenomena
3. Controlled or selected
attention to phenomena
Concerned with responses
Student gives special
that go beyond merely
attention to the
attending to phenomena.
discussion of
Responding Students are sufficiently
Mathematics lessons to
motivated that they are not
be able to answer the
just "willing to attend" but are
activities.
actively attending.
Reflects the student's holding of a Student actively and
particular importance or value. consistently participates
Students display behavior in the discussion and
Valuing
with sufficient consistency in interestingly answers all
appropriate situations that the activities in
are Mathematics.
perceived as holding this value.
Students successively internalize
values, they encounter situations
in which more than one value is
Student integrates the
relevant. This requires the
Organizing lessons learned in Math
necessity of organizing their
with Science.
values into a system such that
certain values exercise greater
control.
 Internalization has taken place in
Characterizing an individual's value hierarchy to
by A value or the extent that he or she can be
Values Complex characterized as holding a
particular value or set of values.
Student applies the
lessons learned in
Mathematics in daily
activities such
buying, cooking, and
others.
Activity No. 5

A. Apply the concepts discussed about affective domain of the taxonomy of

educational objectives in the given situation by crafting affective
objectives correctly. The objectives must be measureable. Use the
template provided for your answer.
Situation:
The school, being sectarian, wants to ensure that their graduates will
embody the character traits that are expected of their graduates. As such,
the president gAVe an instruction that religion must be integrated in all the
subjects and not just during religion class.
As a teacher, what and how will you support this direction of the
school president so that it will be realized, focusing on the affectIVe domain
of the students?

Levels Measurable Affective Domain

Receiving Affective Objective:
Responding Affective Objective:
Valuing Affective Objective:
Organizing Affective Objective:
Characterizing by
A value or Values Affective Objective:
Complex

B. Write your own ideas about the importance of affective targets in learning.
1. Why is affective target important?
2. What problems can I anticipate in setting affective targets?
3. How will the students benefit?

C. In section A, list all the facts you know about Affective Targets. In Section
B, list your feelings and associations. In Section C, write a summary
statement about affective targets.

Section A.
FACTS
FEELINGS
AND

Section C.

Section B.