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Exploring Well-being in Learning Environments: An Integrated Seminar Series + Grants Programs

2019 - 2021

Positive well-being is a key predictor for learning and student success. Research indicates that well-being is associated with deep learning, and that teaching practices contribute to experiences of well-being (Adler, 2016; Fernandez et al, 2016, Harward, 2016; Stanton, Zandvliet, Dhaliwal & Black, 2016). In partnership with the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Teaching and Learning Centre, ´óÏó´«Ã½ Health Promotion worked with instructional staff and faculty to create conditions for well-being within learning environments. ´óÏó´«Ã½ Health Promotion explanded this network by partnering with TILT to pilot a seminar series and grants program. This program intended to:

• Provide support for ´óÏó´«Ã½ faculty to investigate strategies that create conditions of well-being in learning environments.
• Increase knowledge of ways faculty can create well-being in learning environments.
• Provide the opportunity for interdisciplinary collaboration through a well-being lens.
• Facilitate knowledge and ideas exchange that contribute to identifying effective practices that enhance student well-being.

The program participants:

• Gained knowledge about the importance of and how to create conditions of well-being in learning environments that positively affect student academic success.
• Developed a project proposal to implement and evaluate changes made to a learning environment in order to foster learning and well-being.
• Provided input to and receive feedback from fellow program participants and facilitators.
• Received up to $5000 of funding to support the design and/or implementation and evaluation of their work.
• Submited a final report and share the outcomes of the project by connecting with other faculty members and colleagues within and outside of the ´óÏó´«Ã½ community.

Facilitation Team

Sessions were facilitated by members of ´óÏó´«Ã½â€™s Health Promotion team in collaboration with TILT. Faculty members engaged in ´óÏó´«Ã½'s Well-being in Learning Environments project may also facilitate some components of the program.

REFERENCES

Adler, A. (2016). Teaching well-being increases academic performance: Evidence from Bhutan, Mexico and Peru. Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 1572.

Harward, D. (2016). Well-being and higher education. A Strategy for change and the revitalization of education’s greater purpose. Washington, DC: Bringing Theory to Practice.

Fernandez, A., Howse, E., Rubio-Valera, M., Thorncraft, K., Noone, J., Luu, X., Veness, B., Leech, M., Llewellyn, G. & Salvador-Carulla, L. (2016). Setting-based interventions to promote mental health at the university: a systematic review. International Journal of Public Health, 61(7): 797-807.

Stanton, A., Zandvliet, D.B., Black, T. & Dhaliwal, R. (2016). Understanding students’ experiences of well-being in learning environments. Higher Education Studies, 6(3), 90-99.