Design and Validation of a Tool to Measure Associations between the Learning Environment and Student Well-Being: The Healthy Environments and Learning Practices Survey (HELPS)

Abstract

In this article we describe the Learning Environments and Well-Being Research Project, a collaborative initiative between a research institute and a health promotion unit at a leading Canadian university. The purposes of this project are, first, to conduct research about how classroom environments within higher education settings can be harnessed for the enhancement of student well-being, engaged learning, and civic engagement and, second, to build on current health and counseling initiatives that aim to foster well-being in the classroom. We then explain in detail one outcome of our collaborative research program, which was the development and validation of a robust learning environments instrument. This instrument is titled the Healthy Environments and Learning Practices Survey (HELPS), and it was validated using a sample of 988 postsecondary students across disciplines.