Thursday, January 29, 2009
Developing emotional intelligence raises GCSE attainment.
New research establishes that developing the emotional and social skills of learners has a direct impact on their academic achievement.
Cambridge Assessment has just published the results from their research study analysing the link between emotional intelligence and GCSE Science scores.
The study focused on 2,000 14-16 year olds in 31 different schools in England and Wales in 2007/8. State and Private schools were included in the analysis.
Each of the students was given a detailed questionnaire designed to evaluate their emotional intelligence. The questionnaire had 153 questions to assess the measurable strands of emotional intelligence as identified in academic research. The same students were then tracked for their GCSE results in Science.
Some of the identified traits in emotional intelligence :
- Self-esteem
- Emotion expression
- Self -motivation
- Emotion regulation
- Happiness
- Empathy
- Social awareness
- Impulsivity (low)
- Emotion perception
- Stress management
- Emotion management
- Optimism
- Relationships
- Adaptability
- Assertiveness
- Wellbeing
- Self-control
- Emotionality
The research looked at the impact of emotional intelligence ability on attainment in Chemistry, Physics and Biology over and above prior ability predictions. (Key Stage Tests)
The results showed an established pattern that some specific aspects of emotional intelligence significantly contributed to attainment in Sciences, more so in Chemistry and Biology than in Physics.
The self-esteem, self-motivation, happiness, empathy, impulsivity, relationships and adaptability scales as well as the overall score on the emotional intelligence assessment "were all significant predictors of attainment in Biology."
For Chemistry self-esteem, self-motivation, happiness, impulsivity, optimism, adaptability and the overall score "had a positive impact on Chemistry GCSE results.
The scores had the least impact in Physics and the most in those studying for the GCSE Double Science Award.
As interesting is the list of emotional intelligence traits which did not feature as significantly improving attainment. Emotion expression, emotion management and assertiveness and sociability "were not significant predictors of progress in any of the Sciences"
The conclusions from this relatively large scale study give evidence to the pedagogical position that 21st century education needs to focus on the development of a wide range of personal and social skills which are multi-disciplinary.
The research team plan to extend the research by matching all the participants emotional intelligence scores to their GCSE results in a wide range of subjects.