“Eureka!“ “That's funny. “: Problematization and value in two classroom epiphanies

Recent work in epistemic affect contends that students' affect during inquiry is entangled with their cognition. Epistemic affect affords a lens through which to uncover the etiology of epiphanies, in which a cognitive leap co-occurs with an expression of positive affect. Using video data from a minimally structured physics laboratory classroom, we examine how student problematization (cognition about problems as problems) couples to their excitement. Analysis reveals two connections. First, problematization can set the stage for a future excited realization (an “Archimedean epiphany“). Second, a problem can itself be an excited realization (an “Asimovian epiphany“). We posit that, in both cases, students' attribution of value mediates the connection between cognition and affect: when students frame a certain kind of idea as valuable and then have an idea of that kind, they feel good about it. We conclude by discussing implications for design and facilitation.