Document Author: Carrie Slayton

Course Name: Emotional Intelligence Part 1: Self-Regulation

 

Executive Summary

The landscape of emotions in our current social and work environments have become a hot zone for easily triggered emotional responses and combative positioning over world health and politics.  The psychological safety we may have once shared in most workplaces has eroded with the social climate.

 

Emotional Intelligence (EI) describes the ability to identify, use, understand, and manage emotions in positive and constructive ways.  It’s about recognizing personal emotional states and the emotional states of others—it’s also about recognizing the information that these emotional states provide. 

 

This online course series has been designed to take Adult Learners back to the basics. In part 1 of this series, Learners will reacquaint themselves with tried and true methods for identifying personal triggers and successfully regulating emotional states. They will learn about the role the vagus nerve plays in helping with self-regulation and practices that will strengthen vagal tone.

 

Over time, and with continued practice, Learners will easily be able to enhance personal self-regulation to help maintain poise in any emotionally triggering situation.

 

Type of Course

This is an introductory, informational course designed to teach Learners about self-regulation.  Learners will learn how to recognize emotional signals from within their body and will learn the difference between emotions (physiological experience) and feelings (mental and emotional experience). They will learn breathing techniques and vagal toning exercises. Learners will be introduced to science-based practices for the body that help to enhance self-regulation.

 

Target Audience and Learner Profile

This course has been designed for Adult Learners seeking personal growth and development.

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Target Audience:

• Learners who work in a diverse workforce and want to vastly improve their communication skills.

• Learners who want others to listen without getting upset.

• Learners who have read that emotional intelligence and empathy are among the most coveted interpersonal skills in positions of leadership and want to improve their chances of getting promoted.

• Learners who want to gain more self-awareness around their own emotional responses to improve their social interactions.

• Learners who place a priority on self-development and will schedule time to practice evidence-based techniques.

 

Learner Profile:  The Learners who take this course will be adults of any age, who have some basic computer skills and access to the internet, many of whom are employed and looking to get ahead.

 

Learning Gap

It all has to do with how people process information that comes in from their senses. If they are unsuccessfully processing information, then people who struggle with self-regulation will have trouble figuring out what will help them remain calm when they become upset. They have a hard time being flexible when things change and might react with frustrated outbursts. An adult with poor self-regulation skills may also lack self-confidence and self-esteem and have trouble handling stress and frustration. Often, this is expressed as anger or anxiety, and to the detriment of their relationships. They usually blame others for how they've made them feel. This is a societal failure to educate adults on the empowering nature of self-regulation.

 

Terminal Learning Objective

By the end of this course, Learners will be able to recognize emotional stimuli as information, learn to decode their personal signals, and take action using one of the many techniques for successful self-regulation found in this course. However, it should be noted that self-regulation is a skill that builds mastery with practice over time.

 

Course Learning Objectives

1. After completing the course, Learners will be able to perform a personal body scan and describe their findings. 

2. After completing the course, Learners will be able to describe the difference between emotions and feelings.

3. After completing the course, Learners will be able list vagal toning exercises and summarize their importance.

 

Instructional Strategies

Activities and Tasks

1. Read Content

2. Guided Meditation: Perform a body scan

3. Matching Activity: Match randomized descriptions into one of the following groups:

   • Emotions

   • Feelings

   • Behaviors

   • Complete a personal reflection essay answer: What triggers me and where does the sensation go in my body?

4. Sorting Activity: Learner will sort randomized descriptions of practices into 2 topical areas:

   • Vagal Toning Practices

   • Other Self-Regulation Practices

5. Simulation Activity: Learner will complete a simulation activity by choosing the appropriate multiple choice responses for each situation.

   • Post personal insights about this activity to discussion board

6. Final Summary Quiz: Randomized questions from all of the activities listed above.

 

Assessment Strategies

Assessments

1. Learners will be able to describe the steps they take to perform a body scan.

2. Learners will complete the Matching Activity with an 85%+ score.

3. Learners will complete the Sorting Activity with an 85%+ score.

4. Learners will complete the Simulation and Final summary quiz with an 85%+ score.

 

Content Sources

1. How to develop and practice self-regulation

   • Source: https://www.verywellmind.com/how-you-can-practice-self-regulation-4163536

   • Describes what self-regulation is and what good practice looks like.

2. The Vagus Nerve: Your secret weapon in fighting stress

   • Source: https://www.allied-services.org/news/2020/june/the-vagus-nerve-your-secret-weapon-in-fighting-s/

   • Describes breathing techniques and briefly describes vagal toning techniques.

3. Rewire your brain with these vagus nerve exercises

   • Source: https://telespine.com/rewire-your-brain-with-these-vagus-nerve-exercises/

   • Compares the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system responses and describes breathing exercises.

4. The roll of the vagus nerve in stress management and wellbeing

   • Source: https://apanetwork.com/wisdom-for-life-and-business-in-changing-times/2020/the-role-of-the-vagus-nerve-in-stress-management-and-wellbeing

   • By the Aethetics Practitioners Advisory Network – this article has a lot of good background information on the vagus nerve and why certain exercises work.

 

Content Sequencing (Outline)

Learners need to take the course in the sequential order of lessons.

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Lesson 1 (5 min):

1. Introduction to the vagus nerve and the Parasympathetic vs. Sympathetic response systems.

   • What is it? What information is in the response?

   • Guided meditation:  Learn what your baseline (parasympathetic) feels like

   • Guided meditation: Learn to perform a body scan

 

 Lesson 2 (5 min): 

1. Reflection practice:  What are your emotional triggers (sympathetic response)?

2. Learn what your emotions feel like without attaching a mental narrative to it. ​

   • Emotions = chemical reaction within our limbic system, triggered by internal or external stimuli - A physiological experience.

   • Feelings = emotional responses or reactions, as determined by the mental narrative that attempts to attach to the physiological experience to make sense of it - A mental experience.

   • Behaviors = the actions we perform that are initiated, sustained, or changed based on both internal and external factors - A managed experience.

3. Practice neutrality; separate feelings from emotions to effectively manage behaviors and enhance self-regulation. 

   • Use body scan technique to locate where uncomfortable emotions go in your body.

   • This is a highly personalized experience.

   • Learn breathing techniques.

 

Lesson 3 (5 min):

1. Introduction to vagus nerve techniques to strengthen vagal tone: diaphragmatic breathing, humming, gargling, washing face with cold water, balancing gut biome, meditation.

   • Learn why they work.

   • Recommendations for continued practice, post-course.

 

 Simulation Scenario and Summary Quiz (~5 min): 

1. Simulation exercise – how will you respond to a disrespectful person?

   • Personal reflection open-ended question.

2. Final quiz – summary of concepts.

 

Learning Model

This course will be designed using the eLearning eXperience Design (EXD) model, which is similar to User eXperience (UX) design, which is the process design teams use to create products that provide meaningful and relevant experiences to users. The EXD model is an agile, iterative process that engages in six design phases (Caballero, 2020):

1. Empathize [with the Learners’ learning gap]

2. Define [learning objectives, ideation, and definition]

3. Select [the course resource mix]

4. Create [content curation and development of digital content]

5. Launch [communication and promotional strategy for the course]

6. Measure [and monitor outcomes of the online learning experience]

 

The iterative process of the EXD model differs from other cyclic processes in that it doesn’t have to return to the initial phase (Empathize). All iterations can start on any phase as needed, depending on the analysis of outcomes in the Measure phase. Keeping the iteration cycle open, dynamic, and responsive to newly emergent and relevant information ensures versioning histories are available for comparison analysis, while maintaining updated content material for the Learner.  This is in alignment with continuous process improvement principles that are quickly becoming the most effective way to create user experiences in today’s digital economy.

 

Learning Theory

Transformative Learning Theory

Transformative learning, which is considered a constructivist theory of adult learning, was strongly influenced by the work of Jack Mezirow (1997). Mezirow proposed that individual transformation includes a change in one’s frame of reference or way of seeing the world. According to Palloff and Pratt (1999), "the goal of transformative learning is to understand why we see the world the way we do and to shake off the constraints of the limiting perspectives we have carried with us into the learning experience" (p. 129).

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Transformative learning theory is used in this course design to encourage Learners to take a participative role in their learning, so that they may become the authors of their own personal transformation.

 

Course Standards

There are no prerequisites to this introductory course. This is a self-directed learning course, based on personal interest in gaining acumen with the topic. Once a Learner registers for this course, participation is self-paced; however most Learners complete this course in approximately 20 minutes.  You may come back to the course to repeat the lessons at any time, as long as this course remains available in the course catalog.

 

Quizzes:  For each of the quizzes presented in the content, Learners must pass with 85%.  Learners may retake each quiz as many times as they choose.

 

Simulation: Learners will be assessed on how well they respond to given situations. Learners must pass with 85%+. Learners may retake the quiz as many times as they choose. Learner will be required to post their insights from this activity in the discussion board.

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Open-ended essay questions: Learners will be prompted to answer personal reflection questions. These will not be graded.

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Professionalism: All postings in the classroom discussion board will be use professional and appropriate language. If the course moderator deems any post to be unprofessional or inappropriate, it will be immediately deleted and the Learner’s access to the course will be suspended.

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Certificate of completion: All Learners who successfully complete each lesson, the activities, and quizzes with a passing grade will receive a certificate of completion and a link to the next course in the Emotional Intelligence course series.

 

Sources

1. Caballero, A. (2020). EXD Model: An Instructional Design Model For eLearning. Retrieved 1/3/22 from: https://elearningindustry.com/exd-model-instructional-design-for-elearning

2. Mezirow, J. (1997). Transformative learning. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 74, 5-12.

3. Palloff, R.M., & Pratt, K. (1999). Building learning communities in cyberspace. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

4. WGU, (2020). What is transformative learning theory? Retrieved 1/5/22 from: https://www.wgu.edu/blog/what-transformative-learning-theory2007.html#openSubscriberModal