Cognitive and motivational qualities of task instruction: Cognitive appraisals and achievement emotions of Swedish primary teacher students

Given the crucial role of primary teachers in shaping pupils' development, equipping primary teacher students with the necessary skills, including information-seeking skills, is fundamentally important. The aim of this study is to gain a better understanding of the process of achieving such skills by exploring the interplay between cognitive appraisals and achievement emotions and the way in which these are affected by the quality of instructions experienced. Instruction librarians' support in relation to instructions and how these can be designed to promote achievement are also investigated.

Six Swedish primary teacher students were studied through in-depth semi-structured interviews over a period of 10 weeks. The methodological tool Geneva affect label coder was used for the mapping and categorization of appraisals and emotions. The analysis of the qualitative data was theory driven and deductively interpreted through the lens of Pekrun's control–value theory of achievement emotions, Scherer's semantic space of emotions, and Kuhlthau's information search process model.

The cognitive appraisals identified were uncertainty, certainty, and negative and positive intrinsic motivation. The achievement emotions found in relation to cognitive quality were anger/frustration, anxiety, and hopelessness, and those linked to motivational quality were enjoyment and boredom. Uncertainty and negative intrinsic motivation/failure elicited emotions related to cognitive quality, and negative/positive intrinsic motivation and certainty determined emotions related to motivational quality. The interplay between appraisals and emotions was complex, involving feedback loops and reciprocal causation. The support from instruction librarians experienced was related to the students' ability to master the instructions and their cognitive qualities.

The study has theoretical and methodological implications for information behavior and information literacy research in its application of appraisal theories and methodological tools. It also has practical implications for academic instruction librarians supporting students in the process of achieving information-seeking skills. By understanding how students experience support and the relations to the quality of task instructions, support can be designed in ways that promote positive achievement emotions and by implication achievement.