The mission of "Communication Education" is to publish the best research on communication and learning. Researchers study the communication-learning interface in many ways, but a common approach is to explore how instructor and student communication can lead to better learning outcomes. Although scholars have long classified learning into three domains--cognitive, affective, and behavioral--it is not often that behavioral learning is investigated in instructional communication research. Thus, the focus of most of the research in instructional communication is on cognitive and affective learning. This forum explores the study of affective learning by addressing two critical questions that define the field's exploration of the topic: (1) What is affective learning?; and (2) How should we measure affective learning in instructional communication research? This forum initiates conversation on this topic. The essay presented is one of seven in this forum on the topic of affective learning. Since the introduction of the student affect construct to the instructional communication field by both Scott and Wheeless (1977) and Andersen (1979), their work has heavily influenced the manner in which instructional communication researchers utilize and measure the construct of affective learning. Initially, they suggested that student affect could be operationalized toward the communication practices suggested in a course, toward the subject matter/content of a course, toward a course in general, and toward the instructor of a course. These suggestions then morphed into a measure of affective learning (Andersen, Norton, & Nussbaum, 1981; Nussbaum & Scott, 1979) that was later refined by both McCroskey (1994) and Mottet and Richmond (1998). Despite these collective efforts, however, both the application and measurement of student affective learning remain problematic. In this forum piece, the authors explicate the original conceptualization of affective learning and use it to frame several recommendations for measuring the construct in future instructional communication studies. [For the other essays in this forum: (1) FORUM: Affective Learning. Affective Learning: Evolving from Values and Planned Behaviors to Internalization and Pervasive Behavioral Change, see EJ1083005; (2) FORUM: Affective Learning. Pursuing and Measuring Affective Learning Objectives, see EJ1083008; (3) FORUM: Affective Learning. Reclaiming Affective Learning, see EJ1083012; (4) FORUM: Affective Learning. The Instructional Communication Affective Learning Paradox, see EJ1082997; (5) FORUM: Affective Learning. Affective Learning from a Cognitive Neuroscientific Perspective, see EJ1082999; and (6) FORUM: Affective Learning. Students' Affective Learning as Affective Experience: Significance, Reconceptualization, and Future Directions, see EJ1083014.]