Abstract
Although rigorous and
demanding courses are frequently cited as the hallmarks of elite higher
education, the impact of assessment on communication instruction is at once
pervasive and poorly understood. The current study seeks to extend Mottet et
al.’s (2006) emotional response theory (ERT) to this problem by examining the
impact of performance evaluation on two dimensions of student affect: mood and
psychological arousal. In the first of two survey experiments, course rigor and
student self-efficacy meaningfully contributed to the performance ratings that
basic course students expected to receive on their public speaking
assessments. In the second study, performance ratings that were higher or lower
than students’ expectations substantially accounted
for their mood. Furthermore, a quadratic U-shaped function was observed between
student mood and arousal. These findings are discussed for their potential
impact on undergraduate instruction. Areas for future research involving
teacher credibility and affective learning are described.
