The next University Center for Innovation in Teaching and Education (UCITE) session will address how faculty can create a positive classroom environment.
Much has been written about the academic benefits of applying positive psychology to secondary—and even elementary—school classrooms, but there also can be benefits to using similar strategies at the college level.
Could positive psychology concepts such as mindfulness, positive emotions, strengths, gratitude and growth mindset potentially improve the college classroom by enhancing the academic, social and emotional functioning of the stressed-out college student? It turns out, they might.
These concepts recently were implemented in one college classroom as a pilot study. Self-reports across a number of psychological and educational measures indicated that students exposed to positive psychology reported experiencing significantly more positive emotions, fewer negative emotions, fewer feelings of anxiety and more engagement (Myatt, 2016). [Faculty Focus, 2017]
There are some specific ways that faculty can accomplish this “positive shift,” no matter what the area of expertise, course content or course structure. Come hear about these and other ideas for creating a positive climate for learning at our first UCITE session of the Spring 2017 semester.
The session, titled “Creating a Positive Classroom Environment,” will be held Thursday, Jan. 19, from noon to 1 p.m. in the Allen Memorial Medical Library’s Herrick Room (use Adelbert Road doors).
Pizza and sodas will be provided at this session.
RSVP to ucite@case.edu.