Effect of Group Counseling Combined with Role Play Techniques on Emotional Intelligence of First-Year Students at Shanxi in the Open University

Background and Aim: Amid the academic aspirations and personal transformations that define the first year of university, students often grapple with developing emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is an indispensable trait for thriving in a diverse and dynamic university environment. The purpose of this research is 1) compare the emotional intelligence of students before and after learning through group counseling combined with role-play techniques. 2)Compare the emotional intelligence of students with the determined criterion of 70%. Materials and Methods: The sample of this study was 40 first-year students studying at Shanxi Open University, derived from the cluster random sampling method in the academic year 2023. The research tools are 1) Seven lesson plans using group counseling combined with role-play techniques. 2)an emotional intelligence test with a reliability of 0.84. The statistics used for data analysis were the mean, standard deviation, and paired sample t-test. Results: After learning through group counseling combined with role-play techniques, students' emotional intelligence achieved by 72%, surpassing the predetermined criteria of 70% and the difference is statistically significant at .05. After learning through group counseling combined with role-play techniques by students' emotional intelligence is at a high level with (M= 119.48 S.D. =9.44). Conclusion: The study confirms that learning through group counseling combined with role-play techniques significantly enhances students' emotional intelligence. It stimulates students' interest in learning, develops students' independent learning ability, and meets their personalized learning needs. It is a new trend in the future of education.