I will provide an overview of what electrodermal activation (EDA) is and how it can be used to measure emotional activation in educational contexts as part of multimodal studies. I will discuss approaches and pros and cons of analyzing and averaging EDA data over (1) sessions as well as (2) long (minutes) and (3) short (seconds) segments. Presented studies will illustrate the different kinds of insight EDA data can provide for educational research. Harley and colleagues (2015) found evidence that EDA data was only loosely associated with concurrent self-report and facial expressions of emotions when all three channels were temporally aligned. Harley and colleagues (2019) found that habitual self-reported suppression strategies significantly and positively predicted medical students’ skin conductance levels averaged over a learning session, while skin conductance response significantly and positively predicted their diagnostic efficiency. Moreno and colleagues (2024) found that the mean-level of EDA increased as simulations progressed over three phases, from initial contact through delivery of medical procedures. Matin and colleagues (under review) and Azher and colleagues (under review) found that learners’ EDA significantly increased in response to arousing events in two different simulation training studies. Theoretical, methodological, and educational implications and future directions will be discussed.
Brief Bio: Jason M. Harley, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor (tenured) in the Department of Surgery, McGill University, Scientist at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, Director of Research of the Steinberg Centre for Simulation and Interactive Learning, Director of the Simulation, Affect, Innovation, Learning, and Surgery (SAILS) Lab, and Associate Member of the Institute of Health Sciences Education. They have been inducted into The Society for Simulation in Healthcare’s ASCEND Leadership Network, and received The Canadian Association of Medical Education Certificate of Merit Award, and The Outstanding Early Career Researcher Award from the Technology, Instruction, Cognition, and Learning SIG of the American Educational Research Association. Prof. Harley completed their FRQSC and SSHRC CGS-funded Ph.D. in Educational Psychology at McGill University in 2014 and held an FRQSC-funded postdoctoral position in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Montréal from 2014-2015.
