Project Summary

Project Summary EDAC 635

My project for this course was to examine the importance of emotional intelligence as a component in the education of adults.  The purpose of this project was to study emotional intelligence and its impact on the academic achievement of students.  The project begins by defining emotional intelligence, examines its development, and then prepares a syllabus to instruct and assist students in the development of emotional intelligence skills.  The project consisted of the elements of a literature review, program investigation, syllabus design, and evaluation of the syllabus design.

The literature review began by understanding Emotional Intelligence as the integration of traditional intelligence with the processing of emotions, and the adaptation of the individual to the environment.    Emotional intelligence is heavily dependent on the work of Sternberg and the concepts of mental self government and thinking styles.  Emotional intelligence and thinking styles are closely linked.  In addition Sternberg’s concept of mental self governance contributes to the coping skills identified in university students dealing with exam related stress.  The presence of emotional intelligence is identified by the presence of optimism (motivation), social skills (contexts), appraisal (recognition), and utilization (use).

A connection was identified between the subscales in the Thinking Styles Inventory and emotional intelligence.  Emotionally Intelligent individuals utilize different thinking styles to demonstrate different qualities generally associated with emotional intelligence.  The presence of emotional intelligence was also identified as a significant contribution to the existence of coping skills when dealing with exam related stress.  These skills include the internal regulation of emotion, managing stress, and seeking support from others.  Higher levels of Emotional Intelligence also were connected to higher levels of bonding in peer to peer relationships in a study of an online graduate program.

Two programs were investigated which participate in the education of adults.  These programs do not specifically address ‘emotional intelligence’ per se, but they do address content which is also identified with emotional intelligence levels.  These programs focus on developing skills which allow students to understand adopted patterns of thinking, cope with emotional stressors, understand self-image, the formation of beliefs, how to adapt to change by making the unfamiliar familiar, and improving academic and social skills.

The first program was developed by The Pacific Institute and was focused on educating adults to deal with the emotional stressors of change and develop skills such as self-talk and envisioning.  This program is presented as a seminar with twelve lessons, and utilizes interactive lessons.  This program is not an academic program, but is one that addresses the needs of adults who need to learn new skills in order to deal with change.  This includes the need to deal with organizational change, and applying coping skills which are similar to the coping skills identified in the traits of those who have been identified as those who possess high levels of emotional intelligence.

The second program is an academic course which has been used to introduce non-traditional students to the challenges of academic life.  This program begins with an assessment of individual students through the use of the DiSC survey.  This survey reveals to students their preferred method of dealing with conflict and resistance using the Dominance, Liveliness, Sensitivity, and Privateness scales.

Both of the programs chosen deal with the emotional anxiety involved in change.  Both courses also deal with the perception of the environment and the impact of internally adopted messages.  Both courses also deal with the perceptions of the participants and how they shape what is assumed to be true.  These programs also deal with building self esteem and identifying which internal messages are acted upon. 

The syllabus design was based on the rationale that the students participating are non-traditional students who deal with a variety of self-image issues.  In addition, most who participate will be those who lack the tools to deal with the academic stressors of academic life.  Additionally, a self evaluation tool is needed in order to deal with ways in which participants perceive and react to the world in which they live.  Other assumptions made include that adults want to learn new strategies for dealing with difficulties and problems,  life-long skills are needed to deal with emotionally stressful events, self-awareness is the first step in the process, understanding the way they view the world is critical, and transformational learning is needed to develop these skills and become more resilient.

The syllabus design includes course format, course description, course objectives, strategies (for teaching and learning), and course schedule.  The primary features of the syllabus design includes a self assessment for emotional intelligence, a DiSC self assessment (for evaluating preferred coping styles) , a time of journaling for self-reflection, reflection papers and discussion groups to debrief from the activities, assessments, and emotions.

Secondary features of the syllabus include the experience of disorientation leading to transformational learning, an increase in student resiliency as students learn about emotional self-governance, and alternative coping strategies are learned to deal with academic stressors.

Program evaluation was provided by two of my colleagues.  The first is the Dean of the Anderson campus who helped me with the focus of my syllabus.   This included the need to define emotional intelligence, a demonstration of the value of self.  It also represented the definition of self-evaluation, and the business related to these. Another suggestion was that the value of emotional intelligence would be demonstrated for other courses.

Additionally, the director of faculty development reviewed the syllabus from the perspective of curriculum design.  This reviewer also suggested that emotional intelligence be defined in the syllabus and that the language and objectives be tightened up.  It was also suggested that the references list be included as a reading list in the syllabus.  She also recommended that some of the detail in the weekly class schedule be abbreviated in order not to lose sight of the assignment in the explanations.

I found both of these reviewers to be very helpful.  The dean was helpful in her comments from a very practical perspective which was concerned more with implementation.  I also found the director of faculty development to be very helpful in her observations as she helped me to see ways in which the syllabus could be tightened up and improved.  I do, however, believe that there is a slightly different approach from her perspective when designing a syllabus.  This difference was noted in her comments about the detail of the course schedule, along with the narrative explaining the course assignments.

My syllabus design adopted elements from different syllabi that I have examined, including the syllabi used at Ball State University, Lincoln Christian Seminary, Colorado Christian University and Harrison College.  My desire was to take the best elements of these different designs and incorporate them into my design.

In conclusion, I have learned a great deal in the design of this syllabus.  This includes that teaching a course like this is highly dependent on the active involvement of learners.  I have also learned that promoting transformational education should include a period of reflection and self-evaluation by learners involved.  Finally, I also learned that the course objectives are critical and should be clear and to the point.