The relationship of students’ emotional intelligence and the level of their readiness for online education: A contextual study on the example of university training in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

<jats:p><jats:italic>Introduction</jats:italic>. It is well known that the effectiveness of students’ online education depends largely on their skills to interact with the digital educational environment. At the same time, there has been a marked shift in scientific publications from the traditional point of view about the priority of competency formation in students to use educational information and communication technologies on the other aspects of online education, including psychometric.</jats:p><jats:p><jats:italic>The aim</jats:italic> of this research was to investigate the influence of students’ emotional intelligence on their preparedness for online learning programmes.</jats:p><jats:p><jats:italic>Methodology and research methods</jats:italic>. A questionnaire survey was employed as the main tool. In the course of the questionnaire survey, Emotional Intelligence Scale (EIS) and Online Learning Readiness Scale (OLRS) were used to measure the selected characteristics of students. The method of single-factor dispersion analysis ANOVA (analysis of variance) and t-test of equal dispersions were applied to process the obtained empirical data.</jats:p><jats:p><jats:italic>Results and scientific novelty</jats:italic>. 340 Saudi students, admitted into the Faculties of Pharmacy, IT, Sciences and Arts in Northern Border University (Arar), took part in the questionnaire. The sample of respondents was random; only 208 respondents fully completed the survey. The gender of students was considered as a key variable. It was revealed that the level of emotional intelligence in female students is higher than in their male fellow students, which ultimately caused the best readiness of girls for online training. The analysis of the survey data showed the variance between the measured respondents’ characteristics depending on the area of specialisation. If compared with the Sciences and Arts students, the representatives of the Faculties IT and Pharmacy demonstrated higher level skills to undertake online training, more expressed skills of self-control and computer selfefficacy. The level of online communication self-efficacy, recorded among the respondents, was not so significant. However, the respondents of all four faculties demonstrated a high level of motivation for independent online learning activities. It was reliably established that a high level of emotional intelligence correlates with readiness for such forms of work.It was found out that students are not always able to clearly identify their educational needs on their own and to understand them without someone’s assistance, new arsenal of educational tools, their adequate application and quality. In addition, the emotional attitude to online learning is very significant. Therefore, in order to make e-learning effective, it is appropriate to conduct pre-diagnostics, taking into account students’ psychometric parameters, to identify students’ expectations about the online courses and to assess own readiness for such training. According to the author of the current publication, pedagogical support of the process of formation and development of emotional intelligence and formation of students’ skills to regulate their feelings should become an integral part of the curriculum to ensure the success of the learning process. The author identified the critical points of teaching staff activity, which may vary depending on the required scale of the pedagogical intervention and the specific direction of training.</jats:p><jats:p><jats:italic>Practical significance</jats:italic>. The research results can be useful for teachers and administrators of educational institutions engaged in the development and promotion of distance and blended learning.</jats:p>

Assessment of resource and self-regulation of behavior of students with different sense-forming strategies during the session in remote format behavior

“…Discussing the results obtained, it can be assumed that in the situation of forced distance learning during the summer session, the system of personal senses and related actual psychoemotional states affects the activity of the zone of singularity of sense and undergoes a change, subjectively perceived as tension and mental activation. Continuing the discussion, according to studies, as a result of depletion of resources, especially in connection with the efforts made to volitional control over the situation, the ability to psychological well-being and self-regulation is significantly reduced [5,16,17,19]. Table 3 below shows the results of the correlation analysis.…”

Features of Social-Perceptual Properties of Mathematically Gifted Students

“…The revealed relationships of emotional intelligence with practical mathematical thinking, mathematical generalization and combinatorial abilities make it relevant to address modern research on emotional intelligence. It is shown that a high level of emotional intelligence increases the level of subjective well-being (Por et al, 2011), is positively associated with life satisfaction, self-esteem and self-acceptance (Carmeli et al, 2009), and readiness for online learning (Alenezi, 2020). Djermanov and Marić Jurišin (2018) point out the importance of emotional literacy in education and the need for pedagogical monitoring of the emotional development of young people, the development of their emotional competence directly in the system of education.…”

Engagement of Students in Data Visualization for the Purpose of E-Learning Improvement

“…Assessment of learning outcomes is one of the main issues in education. Over recent years, there has been an increasing interest in this issue due to the development of elearning methods, and new learning models (massive open online courses) [10] require tools and measures that allow teachers to effectively and reliably evaluate large groups of students. Researchers come up with various solutions, including measures to obtain information on student interaction, didactic resources, and tools that can provide information on the student learning path [11].…”