Mindfulness is the intentional and nonjudgmental awareness of all thoughts, feelings, and sensations that occur in the present moment. Mindfulness has also been associated with higher levels of quality of life, sleep quality and duration, and life satisfaction and happiness (Chavan et al., 2017). Similarly, gratitude is a tendency toward appreciating the positive in life. It also has been associated with well-being, such as reducing anxiety, stress and depression, and increased life satisfaction (Lindor, 2019). This article takes these findings and explores them to determine whether consistent mindfulness activities and gratitude practices make a difference in the lives of college students, leading to a reduction in anxiety, stress, and uncertainty, as well as an increased ability to be present and to feel appreciation for their current lives.
Tag: Volume 17 (2022)
The Good Game: Developing Feedback Skills through Action Learning
Students, especially those from recent generations, typically encounter difficulties providing and receiving feedback. Hence approaches to teach students feedback skills are valuable. This article explores perspectives related to learning feedback by (a) examining the process of feedback, (b) showing how Action Learning as a pedagogical component is supportive of developing feedback skills, (c) explaining a student-led game, “The Good Game,” as a tool for learning feedback, and (d) discussing issues and factors related to developing feedback skills among recent generations.
Learning, Student Well-being, and the Classroom: Reimagining a Class through Focus on Community
Observations of low student motivation, siloed learning, student loneliness and anxiety, along with a disconnect between classroom learning and life application inspired the authors to explore possible causes. They studied the correlates of classroom-community-life connection and implemented their learning in the revision of a language and culture course. Their work has resulted in a shift in teaching, one that moves away from a purely academic outcome to one that prioritizes community. Approaching teaching and learning through this community lens, the authors are discovering new excitement in their learners, higher levels of student engagement, and increased student motivation to learn and connect learning to their larger life context.
Learning, Course Satisfaction, and Community in the Time of COVID-19: Student Perceptions of the Switch to Emergency Remote Teaching
This multiple descriptive case study explores how university students responded to their Business Communications course’s transitioning to an emergency remote course during the spring semester of 2020. Thirty-nine students completed an end-of-semester questionnaire that recorded their impressions of learning and course satisfaction. Nine of those students also participated in semi-structured interviews about these topics. The data revealed that most students enjoyed and felt they learned more from their in-person course, they missed learning from their peers, and they missed the community that was created during the in-person class sessions that were suspended due to university-sanctioned COVID-19 protocols. This article discusses the need for instructors to integrate continuous interactive community into online courses and the need for universities to provide training for online instructors in this essential component in course preparation and execution.
Volunteering in the Camp Setting as a Learning Tool: Graduate Students Share their Experiences
Experiential learning in the field is central to the training of many helping professionals, and field education is the signature pedagogy for social work. Service-learning offers another opportunity for graduate students in the helping professions to get hands on training. Volunteering would also offer a hands-on learning experience but appears to be less common. This study interviewed 14 master of social work (MSW) students who volunteered at a healing camp for bereaved children and adolescents to explore their lived experiences. The study revealed both professional and personal themes, and these were compared to themes divulged by similar students participating in service-learning courses. Based on this study, the researchers concluded that volunteerism can be a valuable means for graduate students in the helping fields to experience personal and professional growth.
Student Perspectives on Using Virtual Reality to Create Informal Connection and Engagement
Following the global pandemic, educators relied heavily on live videoconferencing options and online meeting spaces to host class in lieu of traditional, in-person classroom learning. Yet, exhaustion and Zoom fatigue fueled a lack of engagement in such online spaces, while simultaneously the need for more informal connection to support learners’ emotional well-being emerged. This study aims to better understand how online learners perceive the use of virtual reality (VR) as an alternative platform to informally connect and engage with one another, and to ascertain the impact on their satisfaction and motivation for such engagement. Specifically, the investigation sought to examine participant perceptions of social presence felt, the ability to connect and exchange informally, and the impact on motivation, digital literacy, and satisfaction overall.
A Senior’s Perspective on Transferable Skills Learned in the Liberal Arts
InSight Volume 17
The Impact of Incorporating Indigenous and Other Nontraditional Ways of Mathematical Knowing into a University-Level Geometry Course
During the Fall 2021 semester, the author taught a university-level geometry course into which they incorporated texts and discussions on mathematics and mathematical epistemology from outside of the “Western” tradition typically centered in college math curricula. Analysis of student survey responses and students’ reflections on their work offer some evidence that even minimal engagement with these nontraditional perspectives, facilitated intentionally, led to increases in students’ appreciation of other epistemic traditions. Though the smallness of the sample size prohibits drawing broader conclusions, the significance of some findings suggests a critical need for further study of these pedagogical practices.