Learning Well-being Research Articles

Correlates of Academic Performance in Online Higher Education: A Systematic Review

The existing steady and continual rise of online learning in higher education has been accelerated by COVID-19 and resulted in a move away from solely on-campus teaching. Prior to the pandemic, online education was providing higher education to students who were returning to study to up-skill, are employed full-time, caring for family members, living rurally or remotely and/or for whom otherwise face-to-face campus learning was not a preference or option. To understand how we can better support online students in their unique circumstances and create an optimal learning environment, we must understand the factors associated with academic achievement within an online setting. This systematic review involved a search of relevant databases published between January 2009 and May 2021 examining factors and constructs related to academic performance in online higher education settings. Across 34 papers, 23 (67.6%) explored factors and constructs related to student characteristics including cognitive and psychological, demographic, university enrolment, and prior academic performance. Twenty-one (61.8%) papers explored learning environment factors including engagement, student experience, course design, and instructor. Our overall synthesis of findings indicates that academic performance in online learning is most strongly associated with motivation (including self-efficacy), and self-regulation. We propose three main implications of our review for online learning stakeholders such as educators and designers. Firstly, we argue that the wellbeing of online learners is important to understand, and future research should explore its impact on students’ experience and success in online higher education. Secondly, we emphasise the importance of developing and designing online courses utilising relevant frameworks and evidence-based principles. Finally, we propose an approach to promoting improved student cognitive and psychosocial experiences (such as self-efficacy, self-regulation, and perceived support) could be achieved by creating and incorporating an online learning orientation module at the commencement of enrolment.Systematic Review Registration: (website), identifier (registration number).

Let us talk: shaping linguistic well-being through differentiated tasks and conversation – report

In the new setting filled with anxiety and stress as encountered by many learners, it is but necessary that language teachers and other specialisms should recognize and respect the health, emotions, and well-being of learners by using conversation and differentiated tasks to help and assist them feel care, respect, and inclusion even on the flexible learning climate and environment. Language instruction faces a lot of challenges nowadays, especially, in the 21st century education. It is not easy to hold the attention of our learners. The teacher has to experiment a lot of approaches and strategies to make the class attentive and receptive. But these efforts are futile if the teacher fails to meet basic needs of learners such as classroom conditions, instructional design, and linguistic wellbeing. Having a thought of these situations, this article aims to provide insights in the form of strategies and techniques that could be used by the language teachers to provide effective and engaging classroom environments in language teaching that will consider and shape linguistic wellbeing. / Key words: linguistic wellbeing, conversation, differentiated instruction, language teaching

Where Psychology Meets Language Learning: Exploring the Positive Nexus

Abstract This paper provides an overview of positive psychology (PP), or the study of elements that make life most worth living (Peterson, 2006), and demonstrates its efficacy by detailing five intervention studies. By aligning PP objectives and linguistic aims in second language teaching and learning, the studies show multiplied, concurrent results, heightened teacher and learner wellbeing and improved language proficiency. One important caveat is that PP interventions work best when they cater specifically to individual learners.

A Different Kind of Tension: Foreign Language Anxiety From a Positive Psychology Perspective

Abstract This study investigates anxiety in foreign language learning from a positive psychology perspective, and in doing so, it considers some of the ways in which anxiety can interact with other aspects of language learner psychology to contribute to improved learning outcomes and improved learner well-being. The paper reports on a small-scale mixed-method study of English learners at a university in northern Japan. It shows how for many learners some of the most anxiety-provoking episodes were also the most rewarding and enjoyable, suggesting a need to reconsider simplistic accounts that present anxiety as an impediment to successful language learning. This is done by shifting to a positive psychology perspective. The paper concludes with a tentative model of how anxiety, when reframed as tension, can function as a core component of a more productive language learning experience.

Enabling Self-Directed Academic and Personal Wellbeing Through Cognitive Education.

BackgroundThe international crisis of declining learner wellbeing exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic with its devastating effects on physical health and wellbeing, impels the prioritization of initiatives for specifically enabling academic and personal wellbeing among school learners to ensure autonomous functioning and flourishing in academic and daily life. Research emphasizes the role of self-directed action in fostering wellbeing. However, there is limited research evidence of how self-directed action among school learners could be advanced.AimWe explore the effectiveness of an intervention initiative that exposes teachers to foregrounding Cognitive Education – the explicit and purposeful teaching of thinking skills and dispositions to learners that would advance self-regulated action - to establish the latent potential of the intervention for assisting learners to develop self-regulating abilities that progressively inspires increased self-directed action.MethodWe illuminate the qualitative outcomes of an exploratory pilot study with a heterogeneous group of willing in-service teachers from two public primary schools (n = 12), one private primary school (n = 3), and one pre-school (n = 2) in South Africa who received exposure to an 80-h intervention that comprised seven study units. The article delineates the experiences of the teachers concerning their participation in the intervention as reflected in their written reflections, as well as their perceptions about the value of the intervention probed with semi-structured one-on-one interviews after completion of the intervention.ResultsThe findings revealed that exposure to the intervention holds benefits for equipping teachers with teaching strategies to create classroom conditions that nurture the development of thinking skills and dispositions that are important for self-regulating, and ultimately self-directing academic and personal wellbeing.ConclusionCognitive Education is a form of strengths-based education that can play an indispensable role in enabling self-directed academic and personal wellbeing among school learners.

Remote learning and its effects on the well-being of primary school learners in Germany

ABSTRACT This paper presents a study on remote learning of primary school children during the first school closures that were imposed in Germany in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020. Data were collected at a primary school covering learners from age 6-12 and include a comprehensive survey amongst parents (n=69) as well as interviews with learners (n=17). Employing a mixed-methods approach, we first analyse the parent-survey’s quantitative dataset. The analyses demonstrate that using modern technology for teaching and for communication between teachers and learners positively impact learners’ motivation and well-being. Multivariate statistics show that teacher-learner contact frequency as well as teaching-learning transparency are predictive towards learner well-being. The subsequent analysis of interview data helps to gain a more nuanced picture on learners’ experiences and well-being. Analyses show that learners experience multifaceted worries and concerns, and that one of the most substantial challenges of remote learning lies in a perceived change of teacher expectations. Based on the analyses of both datasets, it is argued that the contact frequency and quality, the proficient use of up-to-date technology, as well as transparency of teachers’ expectations positively influence learners’ well-being, and that thus, contact quality and transparency can counteract children’s worries and concerns.

Fostering Students' Well-Being: The Mediating Role of Teacher Interpersonal Behavior and Student-Teacher Relationships.

Well-being has become extensively viewed as apprehension for administrations in the last decades and schools have been progressively realized as locations for encouraging well-being which is a considerable development in inquiries on mediations connected to learner well-being. In this way, the function of teachers has got specific consideration regarding students’ well-being, given the merits of teacher-student interactions. High-quality educator-learner relationships offer a support base for long-term learners’ education. Educator interpersonal behavior that makes learners feel supported and cared for is known as emotional support. These behaviors can help learners’ emotional and social needs; meet learners’ families, and being available when learners need additional help. This review attempts to consider the eminence of teacher interpersonal behavior and learner-teacher relations in the classroom and indeed illustrate their relationship and influence on students’ well-being. As a final point, this review can provide suggestions and recommendations for teaching participants in the scholastic context.

Sustaining language learner well-being and flourishing: A mixed-methods study exploring advising in language learning and basic psychological need support

AbstractThe present study takes a self-determination theory perspective (Ryan & Deci, 2017) to explore the connections linking advising in language learning and basic psychological need satisfaction, and ways participation in advising can enhance learner well-being and flourishing. This study addresses a gap in research into advising by focusing on its role as psychological support for the language learner. The study adopts a concurrent triangulation mixed-methods approach to explore the advising experience of 96 Japanese language learners using an adapted version of the basic psychological needs satisfaction and frustration questionnaire (BPNSF; Chen et al., 2015) alongside an interpretative analysis of learner self-reports. The quantitative results show advising perceived as need-supportive, while the qualitative analysis identified examples of autonomous functioning, personal growth, and caring relationships as antecedents of need satisfaction. Together the findings suggest advising has an important role in supporting language learners in ways that underpin flourishing and enhance learner well-being.

ASSESSING GRIT AND WELL-BEING OF MALAYSIAN ESL TEACHERS

Purpose – Seligman’s well-being theory of PERMA has been proven fruitful in defining various well-being constructs across different fields of study. With a growing interest in teacher psychology research abroad, PERMA has been unveiled as a rewarding prospect for the well-being of second language (L2) teachers. Nonetheless, the contribution of PERMA to the well-being and grit of L2 teachers in Malaysia remains unclear. Thus, this study (1) examined the influence of PERMA on the well-being and grit of Malaysian teachers of English as a second language (ESL); and (2) analyzed the mediating impact of positive emotion in the relationship between grit and well-being. Methodology – A priori power analysis was conducted to identify the sample size for this study. Hence, a convenience sample of 91 primary ESL teachers from Kuala Lumpur participated in this cross-sectional study. Data obtained were analyzed via multiple regression and mediation analysis using SPSS v20. The analysis of the indirect effects of the mediation model was complemented with a bootstrap procedure based on Hayes’s PROCESS Macro. Findings – The regression analysis confirmed the significant impact of PERMA on both well-being and grit. Analysis of the regression coefficients (β) displayed that engagement and accomplishment influenced significant changes in grit. Engagement was also a significant predictor of well-being. The mediation model portrayed positive emotion as a partial mediator in the association between grit and well-being. Significance – The meaningful interaction of PERMA with well-being and grit may not only encourage ESL teachers to flourish, correspondingly, it may elevate the well-being of learners in L2 classrooms.

Creating a positive learning environment in the online classroom with Flipgrid

The pandemic has made more clear than ever that health issues impact education and that schools play a key role in supporting the wellbeing of learners. As emotion and cognition are interconnected, educators should use educational strategies that generate positive emotions so that learning is associated with pleasure. The aim of this study was to investigate if a warm-up activity with Flipgrid could contribute to creating a positive learning environment in the online classroom in Covid-19 time. Flipgrid is a free platform that allows video-based asynchronous discussion. It fosters educator-student contact, cooperation among learners, active-learning techniques and student engagement. A total of 37 MA students participated in the study. Informants were selected by non-probabilistic sampling. The data collection strategies were observation during the Flipgrid warm-up activity, a Moodle survey, and the institution student satisfaction survey. Students’ engagement was high and participants’ attitude on their responses was mostly positive or neutral. The warmer was highly rated in terms of creating a positive learning environment by the participants, and informants wrote positive remarks about their experience using the platform. The results suggest that a warm-up activity with Flipgrid is an effective educational strategy to generate positive emotions during the pandemic. Finally, the limitations of the study are addressed, and some directions for future research are proposed.

A Positive Psychology Perspective on Stimulating Foreign Language Learning Motivation

Motivation is the most direct factor affecting learning initiative. Previous studies on learning motivation have paid enough emphasis on how to reduce the negative effects of demotivation factors, while positive internal and external factors influencing learning motivation have not been drawn sufficient attention. Positive psychology is a psychological trend of studying positive aspects such as human strength and virtue, and advocates taking the perspective of “whole person” to focus the learning achievements and individual well-being of foreign learners. Based on positive psychology, this paper discusses how to stimulate foreign language learning motivation from the aspects of positive emotional experience, positive individual traits and positive institutions, which provides new ideas and implications for the related study on language teaching.

Integration of arts and humanities in medicine to develop well-rounded physicians: the roles of health sciences librarians.

Over the past ten years, there has been a growing interest in integrating arts and humanities in medicine to increase learners' empathy and resilience; improve personal well-being, communication, and observational skills; enhance self-reflection; and promote professionalism. These desired skills and qualities are becoming increasingly important for the physicians of tomorrow. Parallel to curricular interventions of integrating arts and humanities to medical education, there has been an increasing research interest in investigating the impact of such interventions on medical students with respect to improving and sustaining students' empathy as they progress in their medical education and develop their professional identity. Research has yielded interesting findings on the types and effect of the interventions in the medical curriculum. The Association of the American Medical Colleges (AAMC), recognizing the unique and unrealized role of arts and humanities in preparing and equipping physicians for twenty-first-century challenges, proposed seven recommendations for advancing arts and humanities integration into medical education to improve the education, practice, and well-being of physicians and physician learners across the spectrum of medical education. Institutional initiatives of arts and humanities integration in the medical curriculum in response to the AAMC's recommendations afford health sciences librarians expansive opportunities and a new landscape of playing an important role in these initiatives. With their diverse educational background in arts, humanities, social sciences, and many other disciplines and fields, health sciences librarians are poised for meaningful contributions to their institutional goals in developing a humanistic, compassionate workforce of future physicians.

Medical Learners' Wellness

Health and well-being of medical learners' is important in itself and is a necessary precondition to good patient care. Medical learners suffer from high levels of mental illhealth due to challenging demands and pressurized learning/ work environments. These factors are aggravated by learners' tendency to avoid seeking help and support when unwell or under pressure and by a perceived stigma among them about mental illness. Many pressures that threaten learners' well-being as well as the health and effectiveness of the organisations in which they learn are systemic. While certain initiatives have been implemented to improve the ability of medical learners' to withstand pressure, fundamentally many of the modifiable risk factors for poor mental health and wellbeing have not been addressed. It is becoming increasingly clear that successful interventions to tackle learners' mental ill-health would have to be multidimensional, aimed at multiple levels and involve multiple stakeholders. Leaders of organizations designing interventions must improve learning/ work cultures to emphasize the importance of looking after one's own health, to normalize discussions of struggle in the context of educational/ work challenges, and to understand how and when to seek help. Finally, it may be mentioned that the evidence base for individual and systemic interventions to improve medical learners' well-being and mental health is very limited, hence there is need for much research to help develop new approaches to medical learners' mental health and wellbeing.

Interventions to improve the well-being of medical learners in Canada: a scoping review.

Background:Medical education affects learner well-being. We explored the breadth and depth of interventions to improve the well-being of medical learners in Canada.Methods:We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL and PsycINFO from inception to July 11, 2020, using the Arksey–O’Malley, 5-stage, scoping review method. We included interventions to improve well-being across 5 wellness domains (i.e., social, mental, physical, intellectual, occupational) for medical learners in Canada, grouped as undergraduate or graduate nonmedical (i.e., health sciences) students, undergraduate medical students or postgraduate medical students (i.e., residents). We categorized interventions as targeting the individual (learner), program (i.e., in which learners are enrolled) or system (i.e., higher education or health care) levels.Results:Of 1753 studies identified, we included 65 interventions that aimed to improve well-being in 10 202 medical learners, published from 1972 through 2020; 52 (80%) were uncontrolled trials. The median year for intervention implementation was 2010 (range 1971–2018) and the median length was 3 months (range 1 h–48 mo). Most (n = 34, 52%) interventions were implemented with undergraduate medical students. Two interventions included only undergraduate, nonmedical students; none included graduate nonmedical students. Most studies (n = 51, 78%) targeted intellectual well-being, followed by occupational (n = 32, 49%) and social (n = 17, 26%) well-being. Among 19 interventions implemented for individuals, 14 (74%) were for medical students; of the 27 program-level interventions, 17 (63%) were for resident physicians. Most (n = 58, 89%) interventions reported positive well-being outcomes.Interpretation:Many Canadian medical schools address intellectual, occupational and social well-being by targeting interventions at medical learners. Important emphasis on the mental and physical well-being of medical learners in Canada warrants further exploration.

Exploring Emotion Regulation and Perceived Control as Antecedents of Anxiety and Its Consequences During Covid-19 Full Remote Learning.

Maintaining the emotional well-being of learners during a pandemic is important. This study explored the effects of two emotion regulation strategies (cognitive reappraisal, expressive suppression) and perceived control on full remote learners' anxiety during Covid-19, and their relationship to perceived learning. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze 239 questionnaires completed by Chinese graduate students taking a course remotely from home for 13 weeks. This study showed that reappraisal was positively related to perceived control, whereas suppression was negatively related to perceived control. Reappraisers perceived more learning, whereas suppressors experienced more anxiety. Anxiety was significantly and negatively related to perceived learning. Mediation analyses showed the existence of different patterns of mediation in the pathways from the two types of emotion regulation to perceived learning. These findings are discussed in relation to relevant studies conducted during non-pandemic periods and Covid-19, and based on the results we highlight the need for interventions aimed at developing adaptive emotion regulation strategies and reducing anxiety in emergency remote learning.

Youth Participatory Action Research as a Catalyst for Health Promotion in a Rural South African School

Rural schools in South Africa face many social and environmental challenges which impact negatively on learner wellbeing and performance. Given the severity and history of these problems, the situation is unlikely to change in the near future. Yet, schools are supposed to be enabling environments, providing holistic support to learners from communities plagued by severe economic, health and social challenges. A different strategy is clearly needed to promote the health and wellbeing of learners. Youth participatory action research (YPAR) appears to offer a plausible approach to kick start improved, health-promoting responses from within the school. We facilitated a YPAR process with volunteer learners from Grade10 to find out how they could begin to transform their rural school. Using arts-based methods, the learners were successful in raising awareness of the negative effects they were suffering as a result of the poor social-emotional climate in the school, the unsanitary facilities and the lack of opportunities to engage in physical exercise. The actions they took to address these issues were a catalyst for ongoing positive change in the school. The findings add to literature about how YPAR can make schools more enabling spaces.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on surgical trainee education and well-being spring 2020-winter 2020: A path forward

BackgroundThe time course and longitudinal impact of the COVID -19 pandemic on surgical education(SE) and learner well-being (LWB)is unknown. Material and methodsCheck-in surveys were distributed to Surgery Program Directors and Department Chairs, including general surgery and surgical specialties, in the summer and winter of 2020 and compared to a survey from spring 2020. Statistical associations for items with self-reported ACGME Stage and the survey period were assessed using categorical analysis. ResultsStage 3 institutions were reported in spring (30%), summer (4%) [p < 0.0001] and increased in the winter (18%). Severe disruption (SD) was stage dependent (Stage 3; 45% (83/184) vs. Stages 1 and 2; 26% (206/801)[p < 0.0001]). This lessened in the winter (23%) vs. spring (32%) p = 0.02. LWB severe disruption was similar in spring 27%, summer 22%, winter 25% and was associated with Stage 3. ConclusionsSteps taken during the pandemic reduced SD but did not improve LWB. Systemic efforts are needed to protect learners and combat isolation pervasive in a pandemic.

Evaluation of a Behavioral Self-care Intervention Administered through a Massive Open Online Course

ABSTRACT Background: Previous research reported the effectiveness of a curriculum-based self-care intervention for students administered in the context of a course on behavior change. Purpose: The study evaluated the effectiveness of the self-care intervention for learners in a publicly available massive open online course (MOOC), who completed the course during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Participants were 216 learners enrolled in Coursera’s Health Behavior Change – From Evidence to Action in March 2020 – January 2021. The intervention consisted of behavior change assignments designed to increase health-promoting behaviors within three domains (nutrition, physical activity, and mental health). Course assignments were to apply behavioral principles to modify health behaviors. Outcomes included measures of physical wellbeing, depression, anxiety, perceived stress, and self-efficacy. Results: Health promotion behaviors and measures of physical and mental health showed significant improvements over the course of the semester. Discussion: The study provides support for the effectiveness of a brief self-care intervention for learners in a publicly available MOOC. Translation to Health Education Practice: This publicly available intervention can support learner well-being in a variety of academic programs, community, or workplace settings.

Learning in Higher Education Under the Covid-19 Pandemic: Were Students More Engaged or Less?

This study explored students&amp;rsquo; learning experiences in higher education during the Covid-19 pandemic. A journal writing methodology was used to extract learners&amp;rsquo; reflective thoughts regarding their living and learning during the pandemic outbreak. The results were interpreted through the views of relevant student engagement frameworks. The students&amp;rsquo; structural factors (family, support, and pressure) were impacted because of political and sociocultural factors (restrictive measures in response to the pandemic outbreak) within which the university factors were embedded (total closure with online education, subsequent reopening allowing physical attendance, and later principal distance education with approved exceptions), which collectively and psychosocially influenced students&amp;rsquo; life and studies. The learners self-adapted via their individual efficacy to tackle the unfamiliar situations by digitally reaching out to family/friends and enhancing skills/self-learning; learner differences in learning style and preferences were noted. Online courses offered flexibility for learning independent of time and space while social presence in the learning community during online lessons remained less effective; traditional values of face-to-face physical classrooms were recognised among some learners. Learners&amp;rsquo; perceived effective engaging measures underscored the importance of ensuring learner well-being (counselling and mask-wearing), learning independence (online lecture recordings and optional attendance), and strengthening online learning experiences (building the learning community, enhancing class dialogue, and demonstrating problem-solving techniques). Recommendations for engaging learning were discussed.

Addressing the mental health needs of learners and nonlearners in an academic medical center during COVID-19.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has impacted life for people throughout the world, especially for those in health care who experience unique stressors. To support the psychological needs of staff, faculty, and learners at a biomedical sciences university, faculty at Baylor College of Medicine created a mental health and wellness support program consisting of multiple behavioral health care pathways, including phone support, a self-guided mental health app, a coping skills group, and individual therapy services. The authors present this program as a model for academic institutions to support the well-being of faculty, staff, and learners.