mathematics Article Cognitive Conflict in Technological Environment: Cognitive Process and Emotions through Intuitive Errors in Area, Perimeter and Volume Juhaina Awawdeh Shahbari   Citation: Shahbari, J.A. Cognitive Conflict in Technological Environment: Cognitive Process and Emotions through Intuitive Errors in Area, Perimeter and Volume. Mathematics 2021, 9, 1672. https:// doi.org/10.3390/math9141672 Academic Editor: Marta Molina Received: 10 June 2021 Accepted: 13 July 2021 Published: 16 July 2021 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affil- iations. Copyright: © 2021 by the author. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). Mathematics Education Department, Al-Qasemi Academic College of Education, Baqa 30100, Israel; juhaina@qsm.ac.il Abstract: This study was conducted among 28 seventh-grade students. They worked in groups in an activity with modeling features; the activity consisted of three tasks dealing with an intuitive error, namely, same A–same B. The data source was nine video recordings of three groups across the three activities. The results obtained from analyses of students’ discussions and interactions indicate that they moved through three central stages: the intuitive error stage, the revealing of the intuitive error connected with cognitive conflict and the stage of overcoming the intuitive errors. In each of the three stages in the three tasks, we identified similar emotion features among the three groups across the three tasks. In the intuitive error stage, the participants were characterized by confidence, comfort and enjoyment. In revealing the intuitive errors, we identified several indicators and signs of non-comfortable situations by revealing the errors in the three tasks, such as a high sound or sad tone of voice, physical movements such as moving closer to the computer screen and other physical indicators such as opening the mouth and putting a hand on the head or the face. After overcoming and understanding the sources of the errors, the participants showed confidence that was clear in their facial signs, joy and smiles, loud tone and eye contact between students and the teacher, or between students. Keywords: intuitive errors; technology; cognitive conflict; emotions; area; volume; perimeter 1. Introduction Making mistakes is considered as one element in the learning process, and some mistakes and errors are affected by the intuitive thinking of students. According to intuitive theory, formwork addressed that students’ conceptions and reasoning processes in solving mathematical tasks are affected by three intuitive rules [1], which we will elaborate on later. Exploring students’ cognitive process underlying the impact of intuitive rules could contribute to designing an effective environment to support students in overcoming their intuitive interference [2]. Overcoming intuitive errors connected with conceptual change occurs through a conflict between the exciting knowledge and the new knowledge [3]. However, some researchers hesitated in the process of change due to the emotions that combined with it. For example, Dreyfus et al. [4] found that conflict makes unsuccessful students feel endangered and worried, and that they attempt to avoid it. In order to be aware of learners through these processes, we need to know more about emotions that combine the conflict process and conceptual change. The emotion and cognition relationship is examined in mathematics in a different context (e.g., [5–7]). The connection is emphasized by different researchers. For example, Izard and Ackerman [8] declared that emotions are the cornerstone of human behavior, stimulating human activity in general and mathematical activity in particular. Additionally, Op’ t Eynde et al. [9] considered emotions as a part of students’ solution to mathematical problems, as they determine the cognitive strategies used by students and influence their motivation. Emotions change during mathematics learning and differ from context to Mathematics 2021, 9, 1672. https://doi.org/10.3390/math9141672 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/mathematics