Does a brief mindfulness practice in lectures affectthe experience of flow?

• S. Wehmeier ^[1] ; E.E. Beck ^[2]
  1. [1] University of Aberdeen

     University of Aberdeen

     Reino Unido

     
  2. [2] University of Oslo

     University of Oslo

     Noruega

     
• Localización: Ikaskuntza-irakaskuntza akademikoaren eremu berriak arakatzen / Universidad del País Vasco - Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea (aut.), 2019, ISBN 978-84-1319-033-4, págs. 1149-1153
• Idioma: inglés
• Enlaces
  • Texto Completo Libro (pdf)
• Resumen

  • Learning might be understood broadly to include not only disciplinary knowledge or skilldevelopment, but also the cultivation of intention and attitudes that connect to learning and a learningcommunity. Higher education has seen a growing interest in mindfulness, contemplative education, andtransformative learning. Yet, little is understood about key questions such as the effects on the teacherand the learners, or how contemplative practices can be integrated into specific disciplines, for exampleChemistry, and what contributions such practices can make. The project introduced interventions intothe learning (and teaching) experience by making a contemplative (mindfulness) practice available tothe students and lecturer at the beginning of lectures. To explore the students’ experience, quantitativeand qualitative data was gathered.Students in a first-year undergraduate Chemistry course participated in the study. At the start of ablock of 8 lectures, a brief (1 min) mindfulness practice was given by the lecturer, immediately followedby an invite for students to explicitly set an ‘intention’ for the learning for that lecture. ‘Flow’ wasexpected to increase; here understood as a focussed engagement with the learning process (as perceivedby each person themselves). Evidence of student experiences of flow was gathered by inviting studentsto fill in the Flow Short Scale questionnaire at different times, after the 1st lecture (pre-intervention), andafter the final 8th lecture (post-intervention). Additionally, students gave open-ended, written feedbackafter the final lecture, and a semi-structured interview was conducted with one (volunteer) student.This poster will present the questionnaire and feedback findings.Initial data analysis showed no significant difference in the reported flow experience from doingthe mindfulness and ‘intention setting’ practice. Yet, interesting comments were found in the feedback.