Engineering Student Learning and Emotional Competencies

Emotional Intelligence (EI) refers to an emotional and social skill set that can underpin a student´s success in their university education and their professional workplace, either domestic or global. In order to nurture EI development , the authors believe the learning environment must change from a teacher centred ´dispenser of all knowledge´ environment to a student centred climate which takes a more encompassing view of the learning experience. This paper discusses the importance of Emotional Competencies as a key non-technical skill set that can: 1) assist an engineering student to have a successful university education experience, 2) ensure the graduating student is a desirable employee in the global workforce and 3) as an assessment measure within the Lifeplace Learning (LPL) education model. Knowledge of the emotional intelligence levels of engineering students will provide insight into the emotional and social capabilities of our students. Documented within are the first results of a longitudinal study investigating the similarities and differences in the EI competencies of three different student cohorts at the same university. Over 400 incoming first year students in a) engineering, b) business and c) humanities participated in the first stage of this study at a Canadian university in Toronto, Ontario.