Information Design III:

"Designing Emotionally Sound Instruction: The FEASP Approach," by Hermann Astleitner

The article provides instructional strategies for designers to promote instruction that is emotionally sound. The author underscores the roles that emotions (both positive and negative) play in education, and outlines twenty instructional strategies that can be implemented to reduce negative emotions while promoting positive emotions during instruction.

The author distinguishes between “cognitive”, “motivational” and “emotional” processes which impact one’s ability to learn, stating that emotions have an evaluative effect on learning and may initiate, terminate or disrupt information processing. He underscores the role that “emotional intelligence” (EQ) plays in successful living. EQ involves the ability to express emotion appropriately and constructively, to promote emotional and intellectual growth. He states that educators are assuming a larger role in facilitating the development of EQ in students given social changes which have elevated the role of educators as supporters. The propositions he prescribes aim to provide instructional strategies to educators on how to reduce negative emotions while promoting positive emotions to elicit desired outcomes from students. The prescribed framework only deals with emotions (i.e. fear, envy, anger, sympathy and pleasure) that are relevant in the social context of education and do not require long-term treatment programs.

The Emotional Design (EDI) model for instruction is a systematic approach which states that after performing an analysis of the emotional problem, instructional strategies should be implemented that reduce fear, envy and anger while promoting sympathy and pleasure. Fear is defined as a negative feeling that surfaces from situations perceived as threatening or dangerous. Envy is defined as a negative feeling resulting when someone desires something possessed by others or is afraid of losing one of their own possessions. Anger comes from being hindered from achieving a desired goal and being forced to an alternate action. Sympathy is a positive emotion that promotes the desire to help others, while pleasure is the result of mastering a situation. Once the emotional strategy has been designed it must be implemented then evaluated.

While I agree that emotions impact learning in significant ways, I disagree with the author's assertion that educators should play a key part in ensuring the emotional well-being of students. Requiring educators to play the role of a "supporter" adds significant pressure to their already demanding jobs and detracts from cognitive learning goals. While a learning environment should strive to promote a positive emotional experience, educators can only do so much to mitigate the emotional triggers inherent in today's society.