K. O'Regan’s scientific contributions

Traditionally, emotion and cognition have been viewed as polar opposites and this view has been incorporated into theories of learning. One reason for this may be a lack of clarity in defining emotion. In fact there are other perspectives on how emotion and cognition, emotion and learning, are related. These considerations emerge with renewed vigor with the move to online education. The author interviewed eleven students studying online. These students identified emotions which were critical to their online learning. Evidence from the literature and from the interviews positions emotion as central and essential to the teaching/ learning process.