The Enhancement of Social-Emotional Learning among Primary Students through Group Activities

Ying Xu; Patcharaporn Srisawat; Skol  Voracharoensri

Authors

Ying Xu Department of Guidance and Educational Psychology, Faculty of Education, Srinakharinwirot University, Bangkok, Thailand
Patcharaporn Srisawat Department of Guidance and Educational Psychology, Faculty of Education, Srinakharinwirot University, Bangkok, Thailand
Skol Voracharoensri Department of Guidance and Educational Psychology, Faculty of Education, Srinakharinwirot University, Bangkok, Thailand

Keywords:

Primary school students; social and emotional learning; group activities; emotional ability

Abstract

This study aims to: 1) explore the SEL situation of students; 2) compare the SEL levels of students before and after participating in group activities; 3) compare the SEL levels of students in the experimental group and the control group after participating in group activities. The sample comprises third-grade primary students in Ganzhou City, Jiangxi Province, China. A quantitative quasi-experimental design was used. Four classes (200 students) were randomly selected from twelve in stage one, with equal selection probability. In stage two, students completed questionnaires, and two low-scoring classes with no significant differences were randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups, each with 50 students. The research tools are group activities and questionnaires. Quantitative data descriptive statistical analysis, including mean and standard deviation, and t-test dependent were used to compare and analyze SEL data before and after participating in group activity, and t-test independent was used to compare and analyze the SEL of the experimental group. The research results are as follows: 1) The overall SEL level of the students is relatively high. 2) After participating in group activities, the SEL scores of the experimental group were significantly higher than those before the activities. 3) After the group activity intervention, the SEL scores of the experimental group were significantly higher than those of the control group, and the difference was statistically significant.

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