Exploring Relationships Between Electrodermal Activity, Skin Temperature, and Performance During Engineering Exams

Students' academic learning, performance, and motivation are ongoing topics in engineering education. Those studies that have attempted to understand the mechanisms of motivation in authentic classroom settings and scenarios are few and limited to the methods used (e.g., self-reports, observations). This Work-in-Progress study explores the utility of electrodermal activity (EDA) and temperature sensors in accurately informing scholars about student performance during an exam in real-time. Correlations between each factor were analyzed. Initial results suggest that peripheral skin temperature has a weak, positive hut significant correlation to exam question difficulty r=0.08; p<0.001). Also, electrodermal activity and temperature showed a weak, positive, but significant correlation (r-0.13; p<0.0.5). The electrodermal activity showed a weak, positive, but significant correlation to exam question difficulty (:-0.16; p<0.01). Also, skin temperature correlations with difficulty index (did not) changed across semesters (r-0.18; p<0.001). We also developed a multiple regression model and found moderately significant relationships between EDA, difficulty index, and skin temperature (r=0.45; p<0.05). The findings suggest that performance is tied to physiological responses among students during exam taking, indicating a possible connection between emotions and cognition via physiology.