Investigating the Transitions between Learning and Non-learning Activities as Students Learn Online

Many students today utilize the internet to help them accomplish their learning goals. However, when they learn at home they are in total control and it is easy for them to visit websites not related to learning when they lose focus or are not motivated enough to learn. Observing affect further will help us understand the transitions between learning and non-learning activities when students learn online. To achieve this, we collected affect and activity transition data from students learning online at home. D’Mello’s likelihood metric was modified to compute the likelihood of transitioning between activities and their corresponding affective states. Results showed that students not only shift to non-learning activities after experiencing negative affective states, but also positive affective states plausibly when learning goals are completed. Also, despite engaging in non-learning activities, students resumed learning and even experienced positive affect which is beneficial to learning.