Using a Taxonomy to Categorize Physiological Affect Statements to Determine Their Impact on Other Sources of Self Efficacy

To prevent students from leaving engineering and computing disciplines, new ideas, complex theories, and innovative ideas are needed.These ideas in mind inform the authors' application of the problem-solving methods of systems engineering in combination with the laws of human behavior science, without the use of advanced mathematical logic.The idea behind this concept suggests there is logic to human behavior which cannot be explained solely through traditional mathematical algorithms.By layering complex theories, a new method of understanding the influences in sources of Self Efficacy (SE) as described by Albert Bandura was proposed in other work.This paper builds on that work demonstrating the development of tools to support how students process their experience with content in engineering and computer science programs.The four sources of SE include three tangible and one intangible.The three tangible sources are: mastery experience (content), social persuasion (faculty/instructors), and vicarious experience (student peers).Physiological affect is the intangible SE source, most easily explained as feelings and emotions.Recent work suggests using physiological affect statements as a filter through which the student experience with content, faculty, and student peers provides insight into how a student processes their experiences and then interacts with their environment.This paper demonstrates the value of a taxonomy to direct categorization of physiological affect statements.This work seeks to provide methods for increasing understanding of the physiological affect to create more effective responses for the student experience and increase persistence in engineering and computer science disciplines.