The potential of biophysiology for understanding learning and
teaching experiences (EFG2020)
Main funder
Funder's project number: R59712/CN002
Funds granted by main funder (€)
- 8 127,91
Funding program
Project timetable
Project start date: 01/01/2019
Project end date: 01/09/2020
Summary
Our EFG-team is a group of researchers interested in the potential role of biophysiology (e.g.,
heart rate, cortisol, electrodermal activity, physical activity and rest) in educational contexts. We
are also interested in the situation-specific perceptions, beliefs and behaviours students and
teachers have, and how these change from one situation to another. This is known as a “process-
perspective” (cf. intraindividual, within-person). Modern technology affords user-friendly and
cost-efficient ways of collecting objective measures of biophysiology using unobtrusive
wearable devices (e.g., heartrate monitors, accelerometers). The promise of such objective
biophysiological measures is that - relative to existing “classic” approaches - they are considered
more unbiased, allowing researchers to track processes as they occur in real time. Self-reports
can straightforwardly be collected using experience sampling by apps on smartphones and
tablets. Observations data can be coded in real-time using Saddler joystick-procedures.
Importantly, these innovations make it possible to take traditional lab-based
biophysiological measures into real educational settings. While some measures (e.g., movement)
may have a direct value for educational research, other measures (e.g., heart rate) are usually
seen as proxies for underlying psychological processes such as stress or other affective
responses. Ultimately, using biophysiological measures will enable us to focus on how “mind”
and “body” function in interplay in educational contexts in real-time.
heart rate, cortisol, electrodermal activity, physical activity and rest) in educational contexts. We
are also interested in the situation-specific perceptions, beliefs and behaviours students and
teachers have, and how these change from one situation to another. This is known as a “process-
perspective” (cf. intraindividual, within-person). Modern technology affords user-friendly and
cost-efficient ways of collecting objective measures of biophysiology using unobtrusive
wearable devices (e.g., heartrate monitors, accelerometers). The promise of such objective
biophysiological measures is that - relative to existing “classic” approaches - they are considered
more unbiased, allowing researchers to track processes as they occur in real time. Self-reports
can straightforwardly be collected using experience sampling by apps on smartphones and
tablets. Observations data can be coded in real-time using Saddler joystick-procedures.
Importantly, these innovations make it possible to take traditional lab-based
biophysiological measures into real educational settings. While some measures (e.g., movement)
may have a direct value for educational research, other measures (e.g., heart rate) are usually
seen as proxies for underlying psychological processes such as stress or other affective
responses. Ultimately, using biophysiological measures will enable us to focus on how “mind”
and “body” function in interplay in educational contexts in real-time.
Principal Investigator
Primary responsible unit
Follow-up groups
Profiling area: Multidisciplinary research on learning and teaching (University of Jyväskylä JYU) MultiLeTe
