Neuroscience & the Classroom: Making Connections
Measuring Emotional Response to Physics
A study using galvanic skin response reveals intriguing differences between experts and novices in their emotional response to physics problems.
Guilherme Brockington, a doctoral student at the University of São Paulo, explores emotional links to physics. He measures relative changes in skin conductivity when experts and novices view possible answers to multiple-choice tests. The dramatic differences that he discovers lead him to conclude that it must be possible to find teaching methods that will increase students’ emotional connection to science and, thereby, improve learning.