Through the Looking Glass: A Quantitative Study Investigating Students' Emotions by Gender and Sense of Belonging in Introductory Physics Courses.

Diversity and inclusion continue to be fundamental topics in physics education research. Very few studies have looked at academic emotions and those that have mainly focused on test anxiety. This study examined the relationship between learning-related emotions measured using a modified Achievement emotions Questionnaire (AeQ), gender, and sense of belonging (SoB) in physics classrooms for introductory physics students. We sampled 166 students among which 44.7% were female, 51.2% were male, and 1.87% were gender non-conforming. Of these students, 75 had a high measured SoB while 91 students had a low SoB. A confirmatory factor analysis was used to test a model of the relationship between learning-related emotions, gender (self-identified), and sense of belonging. The overall model indicated good fit (χ2 (436) = 1139, p < 0.001, CFI = 0.825). Independent t-tests revealed no differences in emotions between groups of students of different genders. Independent t-tests revealed statistically significant differences(p < 0.001), except for Joy (p=0.0018) between students’ emotions in groups with high and low SoB. Cohen’s d values ranged from 0.495( Joy) to -1.27 (Anxiety). These results indicate that students with low SoB experience different academic emotions than those with high SoB. This study reveals that emotions are an important factor to consider in creating more inclusive physics spaces.