Happy Learning Method - Techniques to Enhance Emotional Intelligence

Author: Liu Shanyun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2000-12-01
Features: The leaders of the state and Ministry of Education have repeatedly emphasized that basic education should vigorously promote quality-oriented education to cultivate well-rounded, cross-century talents. This is a major policy in school education. The leaders and researchers of the Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, have always attached great importance to educational reform. To further leverage the advantages of the Institute in the study of psychology and psychological education for the service of quality-oriented education, the Institute established the High-Efficiency Learning Method Guidance and Psychological Quality Training Research Center, led by Researcher Liu Shanyun. The main research objectives of the center are twofold: First, to address issues such as students' lack of interest in learning, insufficient motivation, even school avoidance, as well as neglecting moral development, poor resilience to setbacks, low psychological quality, and poor mental health. The center studies how to enhance the concept of life value, establish self-confidence, self-esteem, self-reliance, and a positive self-concept, stimulate learning motivation and enthusiasm, cultivate good moral qualities and sound personality, learn how to be a person and do things well, and enhance psychological quality to promote harmonious development of students. Second, to study learning methods and explore how to teach students to learn and think, helping them master and flexibly apply various learning strategies, methods, and techniques to unlock their potential, promote comprehensive psychological development, and lay a solid foundation for future success.
Liu Bin, former Deputy Director of the State Education Commission, said, "The entire significance of education lies in shaping people." Learning to be a person, do things, and pursue knowledge is both a part of life and the core content of quality-oriented education. If scientific theories, methods, and effective educational measures can be explored through experimental research, it will have important theoretical and practical value for the deepening of quality-oriented education. Based on this research, the project "Applied Experimental Research on Learning Methods and Psychological Development of Primary and Secondary School Students," led by Researcher Liu Shanyun with the participation of educational psychologists such as Zhang Meiling, Cao Chaoyang, and Wu Shiyao, was approved as a key project of the National Education Science "Nineth Five-Year Plan" in 1997. The key project is a continuation and development of this research. For the convenience of experimental operations, Liu Shanyun compiled a set of experimental teaching materials on high-efficiency learning methods and psychological quality training for the center. The titles and brief introductions of these teaching materials are as follows.
1. High-Efficiency Learning and Psychological Quality Training—How to Make You Smarter. This book primarily discusses how to understand high-efficiency learning, develop intelligence, leverage non-intellectual factors, tap potential, and become smarter and wiser. It explains how to establish a positive life value and self-concept, becoming confident, self-respecting, self-reliant, and enterprising individuals. It also covers how to adopt a positive learning attitude and be diligent in studies, as well as how to set lofty goals and develop strong willpower and resilience to setbacks. The book introduces some psychological training techniques, connecting them to learning and practical activities. With diligent practice and self-training, readers can become proactive, ambitious, and capable individuals. The book covers the following six aspects:
- What is high-efficiency learning?
- How to make people smarter?
- How to tap your potential?
- A positive self-concept is the key to learning success.
- Learning attitude is the key to success or failure in learning.
- A strong will is the guarantee of learning success.
2. Happy Learning Method—Techniques to Enhance Emotional Intelligence. The main content of this book is to discuss how to stimulate learning motivation, cultivate interest in learning, and make life and learning happier. True learning is joyful, and happy learning is more efficient and effective. Happy learning is a learning activity that integrates pleasant emotions with learning, with emotion as its psychological foundation and happiness as its basis. The book explains how to maintain a happy mindset and develop emotional self-regulation skills, which are also emotional intelligence skills. Emotional intelligence mainly includes five skills: self-awareness and evaluation of emotions, self-regulation of emotions, self-motivation through emotions, understanding and caring for others, and harmonizing interpersonal relationships. The book also discusses techniques for eliminating negative emotional interference, breaking free from self-imposed constraints, and avoiding pitfalls. Enhancing emotional intelligence not only makes learning enjoyable, promotes students' psychological development, aids in success and talent development, but also fosters healthy personal and physical growth. The book covers the following five aspects:
- True learning is joyful.
- How to stimulate learning motivation and cultivate interest in learning.
- Emotion and emotional intelligence.
- Mastering and cultivating emotional intelligence skills.
- Techniques and self-training for eliminating bad emotions and maintaining a happy mindset.
3. The Art of Learning Success—Memory, Thinking, and Innovation Methods. This book systematically explains effective memory methods, thinking methods, and creative thinking methods in learning. The book has two characteristics in explaining methods: First, the methods are not listed separately but are divided into main or basic methods and their derivative specific methods, making them clear in hierarchy and systematic, facilitating mastery, application, and self-training. Second, the criteria for classifying methods into main or secondary categories are not only based on the basic principles and laws of educational psychology but also on the basic laws of psychological development, considering the importance of various methods to students' learning and psychological development. Mastering and repeatedly applying these basic methods of memory, thinking, and innovation can not only significantly enhance students' learning abilities but also greatly improve learning efficiency and academic performance. More importantly, it can avoid imbalances, defects, and misconceptions in individual intellectual development, ensuring coordinated development of both intellectual and non-intellectual factors. The book covers the following seven aspects:
- To achieve learning success, one must master correct learning methods.
- How to obtain extraordinary memory.
- Basic methods and training for successful memory.
- Wonderful memory techniques.
- Learning to observe and think.
- Basic methods of thinking.
- Methods and training for innovation and creative thinking.
4. Learn to Learn—Tips to Improve Academic Performance. This book primarily discusses comprehensive learning strategies and how to learn to read and self-control. Mastering and applying these comprehensive reading and learning techniques will elevate people's learning abilities and academic performance, with case studies of successful individuals included. The book covers the following seven aspects:
- Integrating consciousness and subconsciousness into learning activities can unlock great potential and achieve excellent learning results.
- Imaginal control is an excellent method for cultivating outstanding students.
- Discussing the methods and techniques of reading.
- Comprehensive techniques for problem-solving.
- Methods for cultivating and training attention.
- Mastering and transferring knowledge and skills.
- How to keep the body in optimal condition.
5. Youth Mental Health and Counseling. This book primarily discusses psychological development in adolescents, mental health issues in learning activities, and how to prevent and treat psychological disorders and diseases to promote the healthy growth of personality. The book was published by the Military Medical Science Press in April 1998.
Since the High-Efficiency Learning Method and Psychological Quality Training Experimental Research began in 1993, it has been conducted in more than 14,000 primary and secondary school students and over 120 primary and secondary schools. In recent years, more than 520 related experimental reports and a large number of personal letters have been received, along with four issues of educational psychology experimental paper collections (edited by Liu Shanyun) and one supplement to Psychological Dynamics, featuring 302 papers. Experimental data show that classes and individuals who seriously study the book's content and carry out learning method guidance and psychological training have seen significant or very significant improvements in psychological quality, learning motivation, mental health, learning ability, and academic performance (see the appendix materials at the back of this book). The results indicate that the experimental teaching materials are highly scientific, operationally feasible, and effective, and are well-received by teachers, students, and parents.
The High-Efficiency Learning Method and Psychological Quality Training Series published by the Commercial Press is based on the experimental teaching materials used by the High-Efficiency Learning Method Guidance and Psychological Quality Training Research Center for many years and has been substantially revised. The series primarily covers two aspects: psychological quality and its enhancement training, and learning strategy methods. In terms of psychological quality, the series not only explains the importance of psychological quality in learning but also points out that it is the internal factor for the formation and development of students' various qualities, the foundation and core element of quality-oriented education. It also dedicates significant space to explaining a series of psychological techniques and self-regulation methods for enhancing psychological quality. Extensive experimental data show that these techniques are effective in promoting students' psychological development, enhancing psychological quality, changing mind-body states, and forming healthy personalities. The other emphasized aspect of the series is mastering learning strategy methods. Research data indicate that the key to the learning revolution is the revolution in learning concepts and strategies. Mastering and applying learning strategy methods is crucial for students to learn, enhance learning ability, improve academic performance, and strengthen psychological quality. With the deepening of educational reform, the application and research of learning strategy methods have garnered increasing attention. The series systematically explains the content of learning strategies and methods in detail. Both the techniques for enhancing psychological quality and learning strategy methods have been proven effective through experimental research and years of use, with some psychological techniques and learning methods showing particularly remarkable results (see the appendix materials at the back of this book).
Years of experimental research show that this series is suitable for college and university students, middle and high school students, upper-grade primary school students, as well as parents and teachers of primary and secondary schools to guide students in learning. The book also includes case studies of successful individuals. Extensive experimental reports indicate that it is suitable for group reading under teacher guidance in classes.