Background: The motivation and emotions of students are context dependent. There are specific moments when students may find their coursework more or less motivating, resulting in stronger or milder emotional responses. Identifying factors directly controllable by teachers empowers them to effectively address challenging situations characterized by lower motivation and increased negative emotions. Aims: We aimed to investigate how learning activities and students' perception of teaching practices fostering autonomy relate to competence and value beliefs, and emotions in the context of course participation within higher education. Sample: Seventy-seven Taiwanese university students provided 762 learning reports associated with their course participation experiences. Methods: The experience sampling method (ESM) was used. Participants responded to ESM surveys on their phones for 14 days, reporting motivational beliefs, emotions and contextual characteristics of the course if they indicated active participation in a course upon receiving notifications from their phones. Results: A significant portion of the variation is attributed to situational fluctuation, suggesting that academic emotions and competence and value beliefs vary within students across measurements. An increase in students' perception of an autonomy-supportive learning climate correlates with higher competence beliefs, intrinsic value and positive emotions, coupled with reduced perceived costs and negative emotions. In contrast to lectures, engaging in independent hands-on work, participating in group collaborative projects or interactive discussions appear to inspire motivation or evoke stronger emotional responses in students. Conclusions: Teachers' teaching practices and classroom learning activities play a pivotal role in shaping students' situational motivation and emotions.