Exploring Undergraduate Students’ Emotions and Learning Self-Perceptions in Connection with Different Types of Instructional Approaches in the Context of Daytime Astronomy

Abstract The modelling-based inquiry (MBI) teaching approach emerged to leverage the strengths of inquiry-based science education (IBSE) while reinforcing it through the incorporation of modelling practices—emphasising minds-on cognitive engagement to avoid reducing IBSE to merely hands-on activities. Consequently, MBI instructional sequences may include an inquiry subsequence and a modelling subsequence, each characterised by distinct epistemological natures: the former more closely connected to the real, observable world, and the latter more abstract, with greater explanatory and predictive potential. In this exploratory study, we aim to examine whether undergraduate students exhibit differentiated emotional responses to these two instructional subsequences (inquiry and modelling), which together constitute a comprehensive 25-h MBI instructional sequence on daytime astronomy. To investigate the emotional impact of these pedagogical approaches, we analyse the associations between students’ reported emotions and their self-perceived learning during both subsequences of the MBI sequence, and we compare the patterns that emerge. Findings indicate that the MBI sequence is relevant and well-contextualized, effectively supporting students’ learning objectives. Results from the inquiry subsequence reveal a particularly strong and direct association between ‘insecurity’ and ‘embarrassment’, an association that disappears during the modelling subsequence. In contrast, the modelling subsequence is marked by strong direct associations between ‘concentration’ and ‘interest’, as well as a reinforced association between ‘students’ self-perception of learning’ and ‘interest’, and an inverse relationship with ‘boredom’. These divergent emotional associations highlight the differing emotional responses elicited by two instructional subsequences that share similar learning cycles (expression, confrontation, and knowledge construction) yet diverge epistemologically. In the inquiry subsequence, students respond to an empirical question, constructing descriptive knowledge by contrasting local sunlight hour data. In the modelling subsequence, however, students begin by expressing their initial explanatory models, identifying their limitations through collaborative reflection, and iteratively refining them—ultimately constructing a Sun-Earth system model capable of explaining and predicting sunlight hours at any location on Earth. These findings offer descriptive insights into the effectiveness of our MBI instructional sequence and describe the differences in students’ perception (learning and emotions) between the part of the instructional sequence focused on inquiry (contextualized) and that of modelling. This initial study sets the basics to continue delving into the emotional profiles of the participating students, with implications for both the design research of MBI instructional sequences and the use of emotions as learning indicators.