Distance Learning: Emotional Intelligence and Academic Motivation among University Students

• Main Authors: Ain Syatur Rodhiah, Idros, Ross Azura, Zahit, Sheilla Lim, Omar Lim
• Format: Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: 2022
• Subjects: BF Psychology
• Online Access: http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/40231/1/POSTER%20SKeP2022%20Ross%20Azura%20%26%20Sheilla.pdf; http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/40231/
• Institution: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak

The COVID-19 outbreak has changed the way students learn. During the lockdown period, students have to attend online classes and complete continuous assessments via an online platform. Attending long-term open distance learning (ODL) requires high self-motivation and good emotional stability to sustain the learning spirit throughout the semester. Emotional intelligence (EQ) is essential for students to adapt to ODL as the number of psychological distress cases among students shows an alarming rate. Hence, the objective of this study is to determine the emotional intelligence between gender and its relationship with academic motivation among undergraduate students during ODL. A total of 67 undergraduate students participated in this study. The results revealed that there is no difference between emotional intelligence (p=0.637), academic motivation (p=0.240) and gender differences. However, there is a significant relationship between emotional intelligence and academic motivation (p=0.00) among undergraduate students. This study proves that EQ plays an important role in a student’s academic motivation, especially during this challenging time.