Positive Intelligence Training to Develop Self-Awareness for Enhancing Student Learning Potential During Higher Education

Author(s):  
Pawan Tyagi ◽  
Wondwosen Demisse ◽  
Marzieh Savadkoohi ◽  
Takele Gemeda

Abstract Positive intelligence (PI) training can produce a transformative impact on college students. PI, a branch of human psychology, provides a tool to identify significant compulsive habits that can inhibit students’ learning potential and ability to understand others. This paper discusses the two training methods adopted for teaching graduate and undergraduate students. It is considered that including such training is fundamentally crucial for developing 21st century STEM workforce with a well-rounded personality. However, PI training may consume a significant class time allocated for covering course contents under the degree-specific curriculums. Starting a new course may increase the credit overload beyond the approved BS and graduate credits. This paper discusses introducing different modules in the existing classes to foster PI training. The PI training method for undergraduate students focuses on self-education via online videos and freely available content and self-assessment tests. Undergraduate students were given a set of questions to guide them about the important PI topics and to pay attention while self-learning the PI elements. The PI assignment starts with the familiarization of the Maslow hierarchy of needs governing the motivation behind human actions. This assignment mainly focuses on understanding the “sage” mode in which a human tends to utilize his/her latent and earned skills towards the attainment of goals and living life purposefully. The PI assignment had several questions on self-sabotaging “saboteurs” and judging traits that almost everyone develops as a survival mechanism while facing emotional and physical survival challenges for an extended period. During class discussion, students were exposed to their hidden/invisible saboteurs which could be easily triggered by unrealistic mental threats and thus compromise their learning function and performance. Students were asked to take free online self-assessment saboteur test to find the numerical values of their traits and do self-evaluation and plan to counteract the effect of self-sabotaging habits. PI training fulfills ABET student learning outcomes focusing on developing their life-long learning skills. This paper mainly discusses the PI training for graduate students under the mechanical engineering department. PI training is one of the first and essential modules in the mandatory MECH 500 Research Methods and Technical Communication course. Graduate students enrolled in this course are first introduced to the importance of PI and its potential impact in developing self-efficacy. After the initial introduction, graduate students are asked to do the following (a) Complete the abovementioned assignment given to the undergraduate student, (b) prepare a presentation on PI by including their insights for class discussion. After the PI training, students were asked to reflect on their competence in PI and the ability to apply it. In the survey and direct feedback, students expressed the value and appreciation for the PI training. Students also expressed the need to provide this training to large masses for developing an emotionally mature society of parents, teachers, and students, producing creative, innovative, and emphatic civilization.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas Knutson ◽  
Em Matsuno ◽  
Chloe Goldbach ◽  
Halleh Hashtpari ◽  
Nathan Grant Smith

Nearly 50% of graduate students report experiencing emotional or psychological distress during their enrollment in graduate school. Levels of distress are particularly high for transgender and non-binary graduate students who experience daily discrimination and marginalization. Universities and colleges have yet to address and accommodate the needs and experiences of transgender and non-binary graduate students. Given the multitude of challenges these students may face, educational settings should not present additional barriers to educational success and well-being. In an effort to improve graduate education for transgender and non-binary students, we add to the existing scholarship on affirming work with transgender undergraduate students by addressing the unique concerns of graduate students. We utilize a social-ecological model to identify sources of discrimination in post-secondary education and to provide transgender- and non-binary-affirming recommendations at structural, interpersonal, and individual levels. For practitioners who wish to do personal work, we provide guidance for multicultural identity exploration. A table of recommendations and discussion of ways to implement our recommendations are provided.


Dementia ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Helen Wood ◽  
Ledia Alushi ◽  
John A Hammond

We designed an educational programme for multiple disciplines to improve healthcare students’ preparedness to work with people with dementia. It consisted of class-based sessions followed by a volunteer experience interacting with persons with dementia in care homes. This paper discusses the value and impact of this innovative experience.


1995 ◽  
Vol 268 (6) ◽  
pp. S21 ◽  
Author(s):  
P K Rangachari ◽  
S Mierson

Because critical analysis of published information is an essential component of scientific life, it is important that students be trained in its practice. Undergraduate students who are more accustomed to reading textbooks and taking lecture notes find it difficult to appreciate primary publications. To help such students, we have developed a checklist that helps them analyze different components of a research article in basic biomedical sciences. Students used the checklist to analyze critically a published article. The students were assigned an article and asked to write a paper (maximum 2 pages of single-spaced type) assessing it. This assignment has been found useful to both undergraduate and graduate students in pharmacology and physiology. Student responses to a questionnaire were highly favorable; students thought the exercise provided them with some of the essential skills for life-long learning.


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 457-460
Author(s):  
M. Leslie Santana

One moment from the much-discussed 2017 curriculum reform in the Music Department at Harvard University has stuck with me and transformed the way I approach teaching music in higher education. In one of the meetings leading up to the revision, graduate students in the department led an activity in which attendees—who included undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty alike—got into small groups and discussed the relative merits of three hypothetical models for the new undergraduate curriculum. Each of the models involved decentering to some extent the existing curriculum's emphasis on the history of Western European music and dominant music theoretical approaches to it. After a short while, we all gathered back together and one person from each group shared a bit about what had transpired. From the circle of desks nearest the door, an undergraduate student rose to speak and expressed enthusiasm for a broadening of curricular coverages. But, they said, their group also had some reservations about jettisoning the overall focus on Western European concert music altogether. “We still need to learn about our history,” they said, while a faculty member nodded behind them.


Author(s):  
Denard Lynch

This paper discusses the results of two experiments in self assessment and discusses their value in evaluating student consciousness of their competence, and the opportunity to improve self-awareness and competence in students. The data was gathered from two different engineering courses. The first experiment was conducted in a second-year course on basic electronics and electrical power. As part of the final examination, students were asked to assess their confidence in their answer to each question. The student self-assessment was compared to the actual result in an effort to determine the student’s perception of their competence. Student assessment was coded with respect to consciousness and competence. The second experiment was performed on a midterm examination in engineering ethics and professionalism, a senior course discussing the impact and interaction of the engineering profession on society. Students were given an annotated exemplar and a marking rubric and asked to grade their own midterm submissions. The student assessments were compared to the instructor assessment and again the results were coded with respect to consciousness and competence. The results showed a contrast between the second-year and senior courses. For the second-year course, 50.3% were coded as consciously competent or incompetent. In the senior course, 80% of students were coded as consciously competent. The comparison of the two results suggest that senior students, given suitable instruction, are more aware of their competence than junior students suggesting that current methods do develop an improved awareness of competence, although other factors may be relevant. It is suggested that student awareness be formally monitored, and results used to modify pedagogy to improve and accelerate consciousness in graduates.  


2017 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-129
Author(s):  
Carol Wright

The purpose of this research is to examine specific examples of how business communication courses are delivered in large, face-to-face university classes to discover implications of these large courses. This case study reviewed four classes from two different midsized universities whose classes range from 48 to 300 students. Findings suggest that, when faced with the possibility of teaching more students, it is important to understand that pedagogical strategies may need to be adjusted to maintain student learning. These strategies include modifying the course to the lecture/lab structure, limiting the amount of writing, or allowing the instructor to teach fewer courses.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Strutz ◽  
Hanna Brodowski ◽  
Sandra Mümken ◽  
Ursula Müller-Werdan ◽  
Jörn Kiselev

Abstract Background: Older people are exposed to an increased risk of falling due to a multitude of physiological and functional changes and fear of falling. The risk of falling is assessed and managed differently. It should be found out whether the coping strategies of older people differ with regard to their activities in daily life depending on the adequacy of their self-assessed fall risk. Methods: Adequacy of the perceived fall risk was evaluated with the de Morton Mobility Index and the Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale among 100 older people. Additionally, semi-structured interviews were conducted in 16 participants with an identified fall risk. Coding techniques, based on structuring qualitative content analysis and the half-split method were applied. Results: Six out of 16 interviewees assessed their fall risk adequately. Interviews with the seniors resulted in topics such as coping strategies and awareness and several sub-topics in each category. Participants who adequately assessed their own fall risk reported an “active/positive” coping behavior and awareness of themselves. In contrast, those who assessed their own risk of falling inadequately covered all identified categories with no identifiable pattern. Conclusion: An adequate self-assessment of fall risks is accompanied by positive coping strategies to maintain an active lifestyle. In contrast, a lack of an adequate self-awareness seems to lead to arbitrary coping strategies. Assisting older people in their self-awareness regarding their own fall risk should be emphasized in order to adopt positive coping strategies. Future studies are necessary to better understand the underlying mechanisms that lead to an adequate or inadequate self-assessment in older people fall risk.


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