7th International Conference of Education, Research and Innovation

Seville - 17th-19th November 2014

“EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND ABILITIES IN

PERFORMANCE IN MATHEMATICS: A STUDY ON PRIMARY

EDUCATION STUDENTS”

Presentación Caballero García 1 and Mª Elisabet Cifuentes Sánchez 1

1 Facultad de Ciencias Sociales y de la EducaciónUniversidad Camilo José Cela (Madrid)

INTRODUCTION

Inappropiate emotional education at school.

Low marks in mathematics (international evaluation)

Emotional education, aptitud and performance in mathematics in primary students.

Affective and aptitudinal factors in the process of learning mathematics.

OBJECTIVEProve the relationship that may exist between emotional

intelligence, abilities and performance in mathematics.

HYPHOTESISHi1: There is a positive relationship between emotional

intelligence, abilities and performance in mathematics.

Hi2: Emotional intelligence and abilities of students are predictors of performance in Mathematics.

METHODOLOGY

METHODOLOGYParticipants 34 students (21 boys and 13 girls) of a group of 6th year of

primary school, with average age of 11,5 years.

Instruments TMMS-24 (Fernández-Berrocal, Extremera y Ramos, 2004). BADyG-E3 (Carlos Yuste, Martínez Arias y Gálve, 2009). Lists of results in mathematics

METHODOLOGYProcedimiento de recogida de datos

Data collection proceduresApply for permissionsChoose sessions for applicationDevelopment of sessions: 1 hour of duration

approximately

1st session: BADyG-E3 I (4 testing) 2nd session: BADyG-E3 II (5 testing) 3rd session: test TMMS-24 4th session: Collecting lists of results in mathematics

Tabulation and data analysis.

METHODOLOGYData analysis

Descriptive analysis: frecuencies, percentages, aferages and standard deviations.

Bivariate Pearson correlation.

T Student test and simple analysis of variance (ANOVA).

Multiple Regressions Analysis.

SPSS 19, with a confidence of 95% and an error level of 5%.

RESULTS To Know the level of Emotional Intelligence of a group of students

of 6th year of primary education of CEIP. Cervantes.

The general average level of EI is appropiate ( =82,32, =16,01).

RESULTS To evaluate differencial and general aptitudes of a group of

students of 6th year of primary education of CEIP. Cervantes.

Evaluated students have an average general level ( =17,85).

RESULTS To know the performance in mathematics of a group of students of

6th year of primary education of CEIP. Cervantes.

Results are also good, with an average mark of B ( =7,03, =1,59).

N Minimum Maximum AverageStandard

Desv.

Performance in Mathematics 34 4,80 9,50 7,0274 1,59105

RESULTS To analyze the relationship that may exist between emotional

intelligence and performance in mathematics of students.

Pearson Correlation not exist any lineal positive relationship between total emotional intelligence and students’ performance in mathematics (rP=0,102; p=0,566).

To analyze the relationship that may exist between general abilities and performance in mathematics of students.

Not exist any relationship between general abilities and performance in mathematics, but there is a relationship between certain differencial abilities:

- Verbal Analogies (rP=0,453(**), p=0,007)

- Numerical Sequences (rP=0,565(**), p=0,000)

- Number Problems (rP=0,460(**), p=0,006)

- Visual Memory (rP=0,567(**), p=0,000)

- Spotting the differences (rP=0,449(**), p=0,008).

RESULTS To analyze if emotional intelligence of students suppose

differences in aptitudes and performance in mathematics.

EI do not make any difference either in general abilities or in the students´ performance in mathematics. However, it do indicte significant differences in relation to some differencial abilities.

- Avareness of emotional experience there are significant differences in Completing Sentences. Students with low levels of awareness obtained a higher average in completing sentences (F=4,321, p=0,02; Tukey=5,9*, p=0,019).

- Emotional self-management there are significant differences:

Students with better emotional self-management obtained a higher average in Verbal Analogies (F=9,907, p=0,00) and Completing Sentences (F=5,41, p=0,01; ukey=5,57*, p=0,048).

RESULTS To analyze if aptitudes suppose differences in emotional intelligence

and performance in mathematics.

General abilities do not make any difference either in EI and general performance in mathematics, but they make it differencial abilities in:

a) EI:- Visual memory – Total EI: Students with below average marks in

visual memory are those who have more emotional intelligence; nevertheless, students with above average marks in visual memory have obtained the lowest average in emotional intelligence (F=3,353, p=0,023).

- Visual memory– Avareness of emotional experience: Students with an above average level of visual memory are those who have the lowest level of awareness of emotional experience F=3,200, p=0,027).

- Verbal analogies – Emotional self-management: Students who have obtained higher results in the verbal analogies ability are those with the lowest average of emotional self-management(F=2,867, p=0,041). (Tukey=14,5*, p=0,027).

RESULTS To analyze if aptitudes suppose differences in emotional

intelligence and performance in mathematics.

General abilities do not make any difference either in EI and general performance in mathematics, but they make it differencial abilities in:

b) Performance in Mathematics :

- Number Problems (F=4,420, p=0,003). higher results the highest marks in

mathematics.

- Numerical Sequences (F=3,789, p=0,007). higher results the highest marks in mathematics.

- Memory for Oral storytelling (F=3,097, p=0,031). extremely high or low results the lowest marks in mathematics

RESULTS To know the value that EI and abilities may have in order to

predict performance in mathematics.

Multiple Regressions Analysis 56,1% of changes in performance in mathematicas are due to these variables.

Exist a significant relationship in:

- Higher empathy is related to higher performance in Mathematics(B= 0,111; t=2,143; p=0,044).

- Higher marks in verbal analogies are related to higher performance in mathematics (B=0,142; t=2,238; p=0,036).

- Better visual memory is also related to higher performance in mathematics (B= 0,097; t=2,221; p=0,037).

The most significant variable is “verbal analogies”, followed by “visual memory” and “empathy”.

DISCUSSION In accordance with findings by other authors such as Durén,

Extremera, Rey, Fernández-Berrocal y Montealban (2006); Ferrando, Prieto, et al. (2010); Nasir y Masrur (2010); y Palomera, Gil-Olarte y Brackett, (2006), this study has proved the relationship between emotional intelligence, abilities and performance in mathematics and the predictive capacity that some dimensions of these variables have in this type of performance.

The abilities with higher capacity to predict performance in mathematics are verbal analogies and visual memory. This results are similar to those obtained by Laidra, Pullman, y Allik, 2007; Rolfus y Ackerman, 1999).

Also the variable of empathy can predict performance in mathematics (Callejo, 2004; Frank 1988; Gairín, 1990; Garofalo, 1989; Gómez-Chacón, 1997; McLeod, 1992; Schoenfeld, 1985, 1992).

LIMITATIONS AND PROSPECTIVE It is necessary studies, with larger and more representatives

samples that allow us to confirm more precisely the relationship between Emotional Intelligence and aptitudes in performance in Mathematics.

Continue to investigate in this line and explain in a more extensive our primary students´ results in mathematics, from the study of differents components of the affective domain as beliefs, attitudes, and emotions; or other variables such as evaluative anxiety, self-esteem, attributional style, previous learning experiences, etc.

More studies are necessary to improve the students’ results in this subject and to help to prevent academic failure.

“THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION”