scholarly journals Representing the Unseen with “Our Journey”: a Platform to Capture Affective Experiences and Support Emotional Awareness in University-Level Study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Coughlan ◽  
Kate Lister ◽  
Mathijs Lucassen
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Personal Development ◽  
Pilot Trial ◽  
Emotional Awareness ◽  
Critical Issue ◽  
Experience Design ◽  
User Experience Design ◽  
Affective Experiences ◽  
Post Trial ◽  
Support Students

AbstractStudent mental health is a critical issue that institutions are struggling to tackle proactively. The wellbeing of students is largely invisible to institutions unless specific mental health conditions are diagnosed and disclosed. In comparison to the importance placed on academic aspects, the affective experiences of education throughout the study journeys of students are rarely acknowledged. Approaches for students to develop emotional awareness, through which they learn to understand and manage their emotions, are limited. In this article, we describe the design and evaluation of Our Journey, a platform for students to represent their study journeys through describing the events and emotions they experience. The conceptual and user experience design of the platform was derived from participatory activities with students and staff and has been further refined via several physical and online iterations. In this paper, we report findings from an exploratory pilot trial of Our Journey with 54 students studying for a range of qualifications at an online learning institution. Through an analysis of the journeys that the students produced and a post-trial survey, we found that Our Journey can support representations of emotional awareness in relation to study events which prompted students to reflect on important aspects of their study and personal development. The design and use of the platform have also prompted important considerations around how emotion is represented, as well as how the privacy and ownership of these representations of personal experiences can be managed to support students and institutions to potentially benefit from novel tools such as Our Journey.

Development of the Shift Smartphone App to Support the Emotional Wellbeing of Junior Doctors: Design of a Prototype and Results of Usability and Acceptability Testing (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabelle Counson ◽  
Alexandra Bartholomew ◽  
Joanna Crawford ◽  
Katherine Petrie ◽  
Geetanjali Basarkod ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
User Experience ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
Pilot Trial ◽  
User Involvement ◽  
Health Behaviours ◽  
Junior Doctors ◽  
User Centered Design ◽  
Emotional Wellbeing ◽  
Prototype Development

BACKGROUND Junior doctors report higher levels of psychological distress than more senior doctors and report several barriers to seeking professional mental health support, including concerns about confidentiality and career progression. Mobile health applications (mHealth apps) may be utilised to help overcome these barriers to assist the emotional wellbeing of this population and encourage help-seeking. OBJECTIVE We describe the development and pilot trial of the Shift mHealth app to provide an unobtrusive avenue for junior doctors to seek information about, and help for, wellbeing and mental health concerns that is sensitive to workplace settings. METHODS A 4-phase iterative development process was undertaken to create the content and features of Shift involving junior doctors, using principles of user-centered design. These four phases were: I) Needs assessment, based on interviews with 12 junior doctors; II) Prototype development with user experience feedback from two junior doctors; III) Evaluation, consisting of a pilot trial with 22 junior doctors to assess usability and acceptability of the initial prototype; and IV) Redesign, including user experience workshops with 51 junior doctors. RESULTS Qualitative results informed the content and design of Shift to ensure the app was tailored to junior doctors’ needs. The Shift app prototype contained cognitive-behavioural, mindfulness, value-based actions, and psychoeducational modules, as well as a tracking function visualising patterns of daily variations in mood and health behaviours. Pilot testing revealed possible issues with the organisation of the app content, which were addressed in a thorough restructuring and redesign of Shift with the help of junior doctors across three user experience workshops. CONCLUSIONS The current research demonstrates the importance of ongoing end-user involvement in the creation of a specialised mHealth app for a unique working population experiencing profession-specific stressors and barriers to help-seeking. The development and pilot trial of this novel Shift mHealth app are first steps in addressing the mental health and support-seeking needs of junior doctors, although further research is required to validate its effectiveness and appropriateness on a larger scale.

scholarly journals Remote learning and students’ mental health during the Covid-19 pandemic: A mixed-method enquiry

Prospects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzanne Lischer ◽  
Netkey Safi ◽  
Cheryl Dickson
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Status ◽  
University Students ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Mixed Method ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Current Situation ◽  
Distance Teaching ◽  
Learning Conditions ◽  
Support Students

AbstractThe disruption caused by Covid-19 in the educational sector may last longer than originally predicted. To better understand the current situation, this article analyses the mental health status of university students during the pandemic and investigates the learning conditions needed to support students. The sample included 557 undergraduate students who took part in an online survey. Overall, the students reported coping well during lockdown but indicated that lecturers were challenged by distance teaching, which created some stress for the students.

Organisational development, appreciative inquiry and the development of Psychologically Informed Environments (PIEs): part two: the pilot study and evaluation

2014 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 131-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzanne Quinney ◽  
Leo Richardson
Keyword(s):  
Positive Psychology ◽  
Appreciative Inquiry ◽  
Personal Development ◽  
Independent Living ◽  
Pilot Project ◽  
Emotional Awareness ◽  
Supported Housing ◽  
Organisational Development ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Development Approach

Purpose – Part One of this duo of papers outlined the appreciative inquiry (AI) philosophy, a strengths-based “positive psychology” and organisational development (OD) approach which is intrinsically creative and generative, and has been found to work well in many fields. The purpose of this paper is to describe its application in homeless hostels and demonstrates the benefits of using AI with the staff and residents, as both a personal development and an OD tool for hostels who want to become a psychologically informed environment (PIE). Design/methodology/approach – This is a case study exploring a new approach to the development of a PIE. The background of the approach and the way it contributes to a PIE as described in Part One is briefly summarised, and the implementation pilot project is discussed; the appreciative conversation and the 5 D cycle are key AI “tools” which were used. The inclusion of positive psychology approaches is referenced. In addition, in the spirit of evidence-generating practice in PIEs, preliminary quantitative and qualitative findings are reported to identify the outcomes of the approach – including client motivation, desire to build positive relationships, and increased emotional awareness. Findings – Residents responded very well to the approach, and a high proportion continued to apply their learning, making major steps towards independent living. This was backed up by quantitative data demonstrating effective outcomes for the supported housing sector, and qualitative themes start to illuminate the psychological processes behind the outcomes. The openness of PIEs to alternative psychologies is further demonstrated. The model was rolled out to other Westminster hostels. Originality/value – AI is well-established as an OD process and less well known as a personal development approach; but has not previously been articulated as a tool for working with hostel residents or for developing PIEs. This strength-based approach is an alternative to some of the problem-based psychological approaches that have been used. In addition, the AI intervention illustrated defining features of a PIE such as reflective awareness.

User Experience Design for Virtual Exhibition Platform Using Lean Startup Method

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Verent Flourencia Irene ◽  
Umi Sa'adah ◽  
Desy Intan Permatasari ◽  
Maulidan Bagus Afridian Rasyid
Keyword(s):  
User Experience ◽  
Experience Design ◽  
User Experience Design ◽  
Virtual Exhibition ◽  
Lean Startup
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document