Emotional responses to feedback in adaptive learning technologies for early mathematics education

Adaptive Learning Technologies (ALTs) have become increasingly prevalent in early mathematics education. These systems assess learners’ performance in real-time to adapt instructional support and give immediate feedback. This feedback can evoke various emotional responses. The precise impact of feedback on emotions and consequentially learning is not yet well understood and may differ between and within learners. This study aimed to gain a detailed understanding of young learners’ emotional responses to immediate feedback provided by ALTs, with the purpose to present unexplained data that can be used to refine theory and propose initial design recommendations for emotion-adaptive support. Participants were 113 Dutch fifth graders (ages 10–12; 52 % boys) working with a widely used ALT for mathematics. Learners solved math problems and received immediate feedback on each answer. Their emotional responses were assessed using a multimodal approach combining physiological, experiential, and behavioural measurements. Physiological data indicated that feedback is associated with emotional responses, while experiential and behavioural results were inconclusive on the valence and nature of these responses. These results indicate that physiological, experiential, and behavioural measures of emotion are complementary. Together these data streams revealed four latent profiles reflecting young learners’ different emotional responses to feedback. Multimodal data streams offer valuable insights for capturing emotional responses to feedback, refining both empirical understanding and theory. These novel findings highlight young learners’ varied emotional responses to feedback in ALTs, address theoretical gaps, and underscore the potential of emotion-adaptive support. • Feedback on math problems evokes an emotional response in children. • These emotions differ for correct and incorrect answers. • Emotional response patterns vary between and within children. • Multimodal measures of emotion complement each other.