The Effects of Activity Based Learning on the Emotional Intelligence of Nursing Students

Abstract

Emotional intelligence (EI) is an important factor in the quality of learning of nursing students. This quasi-experimental research studied the emotional intelligence level of nursing college students and compared the EI level of nursing students before and after organizing activity-based learning in the Developmental Psychology and Thinking Process course. The purposive sample was composed of 163 first -year nursing students in semester 2/2023. The instruments used were the 1) Activity-based learning plan; and 2) Emotional intelligence assessment (reliability of 0.85). Data was collected before and after organizing the activity-based learning. Data were analyzed using means, standard deviations, and paired sample t-tests. Results of the study indicated that the nursing students had an average overall EI score higher than normal (M = 172.07, SD = 13.31), with higher than normal average scores for the good component (M = 61.78, SD = 4.50), while their average scores for the talented and happy components were at the normal level (M = 56.11, SD = 6.13; M = 54.17, SD = 5.26). There were no statistically significant differences in EI before and after participating in the learning management (t = 1.07, p-value > 0.5). When considering the sub-components of each aspect, it was found that the talented aspect had a statistically significantly increased mean score of self-awareness and self-motivation (t = 3.33, p-value < 0.5), while the happiness aspect had a statistically significant increase in the mean score of life satisfaction (t = 2.94, p-value < 0.5). Thus, activity-based learning can enhance EI in terms of the self-awareness, self-motivation, and life satisfaction of nursing students