I am currently working my way through my third semester of the Information and Learning Technologies master’s program at University of Colorado, Denver.  This post is the ninth within a series of 12 scholarly critiques that I’ve been assigned to write for a course titled Research in ILT.

My academic partner Jason and I have once again restructured our research inquiry.  Our new direction is to study how emotional intelligence relates to learning and more specifically, how it promotes positive learning experiences.  With that in mind, a search on Google Scholar, using the phrase “emotional intelligence and learning”  brought up a study from 2011 titled Study of Emotional Intelligence and Learning Strategies.  The study was conducted by Ramezan Hasanzadeh, an Associate Professor in the Psychology Department at Islamic Azad University– Sari Branch in Iran and Fatema Shahmohamadi, a faculty member within the English Department at Islamic Azad University– Ayatollah Amoli Branch in Iran.

Hasanzadeh and Shahmohamadi believe that the emotional mind and the strategic mind are just as important, if not more, than the intelligent mind (p. 1824).  Their paper presents a study that investigates the relationship between emotional intelligence (“EI”) and learning strategies (“LS”).  This study relates to our own project in that we’re looking to research how emotional intelligence relates to and promotes positive learning experiences.  This specific study will provide us with data on the relationship between EI and LS as well as how it differentiates by gender, different fields of study, and different ways that students learn.

The researchers briefly discuss related literature on the nature of learning. They then define learning strategies and explain the three different approaches to learning.  They state that students are very different in how they learn and may utilize a surface approach, a deep approach, or a strategic approach (Marton et. al, 1993).  Hasanzadeh and Shahmohamadi utilize Weinstein and Palmer’s (2002) classifications of strategic learning:

1. Skill – information processing, selecting main ideas, and test strategies
2. Will – anxiety, attitude, and motivation
3. Self-regulation – concentration, self-testing, study aids, and time management

After defining emotional intelligence, they briefly cover Daniel Goleman’s incredibly popular EI model but then declare that this paper is only concerned with Bar-On’s (2000) EI model, which includes five main domains or scales and fifteen sub-domains or sub-scales:

1. Intrapersonal skills – self-regard, emotional self-awareness, assertiveness, independence, and self-actualization
2. Interpersonal skills – empathy, social responsibility, and interpersonal relationships
3. Adaptability – reality testing, flexibility, and problem solving
4. Stress management – stress tolerance and impulse control
5. General mood – optimism and happiness

With the aim of the study being to investigate the relationship between EI and LS, the researchers address the following hypotheses (p. 1826):

1. There is no relationship between male and female students’ total EI and their LS.
2. Emotional Intelligence is not different in students of different fields.
3. Emotional Intelligence is not different in male and female students.
4. Learning Strategies are not different in students of different fields.
5. Learning Strategies are not different in male and female students.

The data sample for this study was 100 university students, aged between 20 and 30 years, that were randomly selected from northern Iran.  There were fifty male and fifty female students, studying in different fields of study: Humanities (17), Basic Science (21), Engineering (33), and Medical Science (29) (p. 1826).

The data collection method consisted of two standard questionnaires: the Bar-On test and the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI).   Both are self-report questionnaires that were translated and customized for Iranian context and both employed a five point response scale
ranging from “I completely agree” to “I completely disagree” for the Bar-On test and “not at all like me” to “very much like me” for LASSI.  The results were as follows:

1. There is no relationship between male and female students’ total EI and their LS.
2. Emotional intelligence is not different in students of different fields.
3. Emotional intelligence is not different in male and female students.
4. Learning strategies are not different in the students of different fields.
5. Learning strategies are not different between male and female students.

See visual representations within tables here.

Hasanzadeh and Shahmohamadi wrap up their paper by stating that the findings of the study indicate that there is a significant relationship between students’ total emotional intelligence and learning strategies both in females and males.  The results also show there is not a meaningful difference between students’ learning strategies and their fields of study. Moreover, the study confirms there is a meaningful difference between males and females in learning strategies (p. 1828).

In relation to my own study, proving the importance of EI in relation to positive learning experiences, Hasanzadeh and Shahmohamadi utilize a great quote from Lawson (2011):

“Emotions are the relay stations between sensory input and thinking.  When the input is interpreted positively, we are motivated to act and achieve a goal.  When the input is interpreted negatively, we do not act and do not learn.  Negative emotions (anxiety, depression, anger, and frustration) can interfere with learning and can result from problems with learning, creating a maladaptive and self-defeating pattern of behavior, which prevents learning and stunts mental/emotional growth.”

***For a more in-depth guide on emotional intelligence and emotional quotient (historical development, categories of emotional quotient, importance of emotional intelligence, and strategies to boosting your emotional intelligence), check out this absolutely fantastic piece written by Martin Luenendonk at Cleverism.

Header image from here.

References:

Hasanzadeh, R., & Shahmohamadi, F. (2011). Study of emotional intelligence and learning strategies. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 29 (2010), 1824–1829.

***For all sources cited in this critique, please view the article here.