1) The study investigated students' affective experiences and engagement in higher education using a mystery shopper method where 45 students kept diaries on their experiences with teaching staff, learning culture, student services, and the learning environment. 2) The diaries were analyzed using the PAD framework which measures experiences along the dimensions of pleasure, arousal, and dominance. 3) The results showed that teaching staff have the biggest impact on creating positive or negative affective experiences for students and that positive experiences with staff increase students' intrinsic motivation, engagement, and grades.

1. Affective Experiences and Student
Engagement in Higher Education
N. Helander1, M. Boedeker2, P. Hellsten1,
J. Jussila1, J. Myllärniemi1 and M. Tukiainen1
1Tampere University of Technology
2Tampere University of Applied Sciences

2. Motivation for the Study
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Positive affective experience
Increases students’
intrinsic motivation1
Increases student
engagement2
Improves grades1
+
+
+
1 Pekrun, R., Goetz, T., Frenzel, A. C., Barchfeld, P., & Perry, R. P. (2011)
2 Rossum, E. J., & Hamer, R. (2010)

3. Mystery Shopper Method for
Investigating Affective Experiences
on
1. Teaching staff and
teaching
2. Students and the
learning culture
3. Student services
4. Learning environment
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Photo: The Meanest Mom

4. Mystery Shoppers
• 45 students from all faculties
participating in a mystery
shopper project organised by
the university administration
in collaboration with the
student union
• The students kept an informal
yet theme based diary on four
larger topic areas
12/09/16 4Photo: Jana Svojsova

5. Analysis of Affective Experiences
Based on PAD Framework
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6. 12/09/16 6

7. 12/09/16 7

8. Conclusions
• The application of the PAD framework opens a novel
view to study the role of affective experiences of
students in a higher education setting:
ü Teaching staff and their attitude towards students create the
peak experiences, both in good and in bad, and in all three
dimensions of the PAD framework
ü A non-motivated teacher causes not only non-arousal
experience among students, but also certainly non-pleasure and
most likely even non-dominance experience
ü Teaching staff plays the single most important factor in creating
student engagement – if the teacher is able to first create
positive affective experience
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9. Future Work
Real-time measurement of affective experiences
in learning and teaching

10. Interested to collaborate?
- Contact us
• Prof. Nina Helander, Leader of PATI - Workspace as
Service, DEEVA -Using Data and Experiences in Novel
Ecosystem Level Value Co-Creation and VALIT - Value
Indicator Tool projects.
– nina.helander @ tut.fi
• D.Sc. Jari Jussila, Leader of DigiSyke - Digitalization of
Engineering and Technology Industries project
– jari.j.jussila @ tut.fi; @jjussila
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