Emotional patterns in a simulated virtual classroom supported with an affective recommendation system
Authors: Caglar‐Ozhan Seyma , Altun Arif , Ekmekcioglu Erhan 
Published: March 2022

The purpose of this study is to explore the effects of an affective recommendation system on the developmental trajectories of prospective teachers' emotional patterns, integrated with a Simulated Virtual Classroom (SVC) platform called SimInClass. SVC exposes teachers to a range of student discourses in the form of unexpected stimuli. Fifteen prospective teachers participated in a study consisting of two practicum sessions in the SVC. Participants did not receive any affective recommendation after the first session but did receive it after the second session. Additional data were collected during both sessions in the SVC, including the physiological responses, such as electroencephalogram (EEG), galvanic skin response (GSR), and facial expressions. L metric and Lag sequential analysis were employed in determining teachers' transitional emotional patterns. The results showed that participants did not maintain disgust after receiving affective recommendations, although they maintained sadness. This result indicates that the given affective recommendation has an inherent effect on negative emotions that are felt less intensely. Different or longer‐term interventions may be needed for more intense and long‐lasting negative discrete emotions such as sadness. Also, participants transitioned to happiness and sadness instead of maintaining their neutral status after receiving an affective recommendation. This result demonstrates that affective recommendations encourage participants to use the cognitive reappraisal necessary for emotion regulation. When the participants' emotional patterns are examined on the basis of student discourse, the results are more complex and the emotional patterns differ according to the function of the discourse triggered by virtual students.

Practitioner notes

What is already known about this topic

Teachers experience different emotional states during teaching.

Teachers' emotions affect their behaviour management, teaching process and student engagement.

It is beneficial to increase opportunities for prospective teachers' classroom experience and provide them with sufficient guidance and advice during this difficult process.

What this paper adds

The affective recommendation system has intervened in the persistence of short‐term and low‐intensity negative emotions.

The affective recommendation system enabled prospective teachers to try to reach optimal emotional conditions through cognitive reappraisal processes.

When emotional patterns are examined in light of the types of student discourse, it is noted that happy prospective teachers maintain their emotions when confronted with unexpected stimuli. However, prospective teachers in a negative valance displayed a descending pattern of activation in response to an unexpected stimulus.

Implications for practice and/or policy

Teacher emotions need to be taken into account in teacher education programs.

SVCs can be utilized as useful tools for teacher education programs.

In subsequent studies, it is suggested to explore the stimulus‐based effects of the affective recommendation system by increasing the number of stimuli according to different types of discourse and behaviour patterns.