Date of Award

5-2026

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Honors Thesis

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Shelby Terwillegar

Second Advisor

Tara Lineweaver

Abstract

A student will spend about 15,210 hours and 2,160 days at school from kindergarten-12th grade. With students spending an immense amount of their early life stages in school, it is crucial to identify the missing pieces in a students’ education, so that students can feel satisfied and prepared for their next steps in life after completing their K-12 educational experience. Research shows that social-emotional skills can increase a student’s educational journey and participation, and therefore the connection between academic learning and social-emotional development must be discussed or taught more in schools (Elias, 2009). In order to teach the connection between academic and social-emotional development, the educator must feel equipped and prepared to do so. This study aims to teach future educators about SEL skills such as emotion regulation, academic worry, and peer support via an evidence-based intervention, with the hope of the educators being able to transfer this knowledge to their students. Procedure: The intervention was informed by Gross’s theories of emotion regulation and Cowie’s research of peer support, and it equipped future educators with the skills needed to improve SEL skills among their students. Approximately 100 College of Education students from education courses at Butler University participated in this within-subjects design. Each session lasted 60 minutes and included a pre-intervention questionnaire, a 45-minute interactive lesson, and a post-intervention questionnaire. Questionnaires assessed levels of teachers’ ability to understand and teach emotion regulation, academic worry, and peer support, and data was analyzed using dependent-samples t-tests to compare pre-and post-intervention means. Results: It was hypothesized that participants will demonstrate increased understanding and belief that they can teach emotion regulation skills, how to lessen levels of academic worry, and finally how to foster a strong sense of community through peer support following the intervention. Conclusions: In conclusion, we found that future educators’ participation in an evidence-based intervention increased their confidence in their ability to decrease or manage academic worry and create a network of peer support for their students. Ultimately, this study aimed to add to the growing research and evidence supporting classroom-based interventions that teach emotion regulation and peer support frameworks and leave students feeling possible of achieving success in terms of social-emotional learning and in turn academically.

Download

Included in

Psychology Commons

Share

COinS