Several theories of learning and studies have shown the importance of affect in learning for a limited set of cultural contexts. This previous research has created a considerable body of work detailing the influence of how we feel (our affect) on our learning. However, we know very little about how students’ ability to monitor and regulate their affect (i.e., their meta-affective skills) relates to their learning or how this might differ across cultures. In online learning settings, we have the additional challenge of not being able to use sensors to monitor this latent aspect of student processes. We must instead rely on questionnaires that interrupt the learning activity.

This project will begin by exploring differences in students’ meta-affective skills in two cultural settings, when student learning is mediated by online technologies. The first setting, Canada, has been reasonably well studied from the perspective of integrating and understanding student use of advanced educational technologies. The second, Mexico, has been largely ignored.

After exploring potential differences across these contexts, we will proceed to integrating novel sensor technologies so that we can try to automatically detect both student affect and their meta-affective strategies when learning. Later work will consider how we can provide feedback to students that will encourage meta-affective strategy use to better support student learning in online settings.