gathering data on how teaching practices impact student well being
TRANSCRIPT
HEARING WHAT THEY HAVE TO SAY:
GATHERING DATA ON HOW TEACHING
PRACTICES IMPACT ON STUDENT
MENTAL HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
Healthy Minds Healthy Campuses Summit
April 4, 2017
MICHAEL LEE & KATHLEEN LANE
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AGENDA
• Project Purpose & Research Question
• Research Methods & Discussion
• Findings & Implementation
https://blogs.ubc.ca/teachingandwellbeing/
PURPOSE
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Our
Question
Our Research Question
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Research Methods
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2015 Survey
1. How often have you experienced the following teaching
practices in your courses this academic year?
2. To what degree, if any, do the following teaching practices
POSITIVELY IMPACT YOUR WELLBEING?
3. What additional teaching practices, if any, have a positive
impact on your wellbeing?
4. Please list the specific Professors and/or Teaching
Assistants who you believe have supported your
wellbeing as a student.
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How often have you experienced the
following teaching practices in your courses
this academic year?
• Almost always, Frequently, Sometimes,
Occasionally, Hardly ever
• N = 5590
2015 Survey
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To what degree, if any, do the following teaching
practices POSITIVELY IMPACT YOUR WELLBEING?
• Have not experienced, Not at all, A little, Somewhat,
To a great extent
• N = 5590
• Challenge with double barreled questions and
undefined terms
2015 Survey
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Quantitative Findings
64%When the instructor is clear about the course objectives,
learning activities, and expectations for assessment and
how they are interrelated
60%When the instructor creates/fosters a supportive and safe
classroom climate, this positively impacted their
wellbeing to a great extent
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What additional teaching practices, if any, have a
positive impact on your wellbeing?
• N ~ 2000
• Inductive content analysis using Nvivo
• Challenge associated with interpreting some student
comments
2015 Survey
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• Engagement in the learning process promotes
student wellbeing
• Wellbeing is supported when students understand
how to succeed and feel supported to do so
• Establishing a relationship with the instructor
promotes student wellbeing
Qualitative Findings
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Please list the specific Professors and/or Teaching
Assistants who you believe have supported your
wellbeing as a student.
• N ~ 4000
• Listed and counted
2015 Survey
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Fall Term Instructor Interviews
• Recruited instructors who promote student wellbeing
• Most total nominations
• Ratio of nominations to number of students taught
• 5 Arts, 5 science invited via email 9 participated
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Interview questions
• What teaching practices do you use that you believe are
beneficial to students’ mental health and wellbeing?
• Are there any teaching practices that you use (or have used in
the past) that you believe are challenging to students’ mental
health and wellbeing?
• Have you received feedback from students regarding you
teaching performance and, if so, how do you use it?
• What supports and resources do you need to continue to
practice or to improve your teaching in ways that support student
wellbeing?
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Fall Term Student Focus Groups
• Eligibility: Undergraduate UBC students in the Faculties of Arts and
Science; in 2nd year and above
• Multiple recruitment methods
• Provided refreshments and $10 gift card
• Interested students completed online form: consent & demographic info
• Limited response: Planned for 6 focus groups, ran 1 with science
students, 2 with arts students
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Focus Groups Questions
• Discuss the concepts of mental health, mental illness and wellbeing
• What teaching practices promote your wellbeing?
• What teaching practices have had a negative impact on your
wellbeing?
• Have these perceptions changed since you started your university
career?
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Preliminary Analysis of Student
Focus GroupsConnections matter!
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Winter Term Instructor Interviews
• Similar recruitment process
• Over sampled research-stream faculty
• Allowed multiple faculty members per department
• 12 invites sent 7 participants
• Added one question based on the student input analyzed to date
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Additional Interview Question
• During our discussions with students, we have heard the
following practices have a positive impact on their wellbeing
• Feeling connected to their instructor
• Feeling connected to their peers and classmates
• Knowing that there is a meaningful connection to the material they
are learning (i.e. find material interesting/valuable, able to learn
effectively)
• Having clear expectations about how to succeed
• When the classroom is a safe and supportive environment
• What are your reactions? Is there anything you do to support this
in your teaching?
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16 Instructor Participants
Faculty Gender Tenure Stream
8 Arts
8 Science
9 Female
7 Male
3 Lecturers
8 Teaching Stream
5 Research stream
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Analysis
Mid-level categories from fall term interviews applied to winter term interviews, new categories added
Group categories into higher level categories & apply to all interviews
Group and summarize data
Review and revise higher level codes, apply to data
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Instructor Interview Findings
• Content analysis of the instructor interviews identified five themes:
1. The instructor cares about student learning
2. The instructor cares about student mental health and wellbeing
3. The instructor trusts and respects students
4. The instructor fosters a safe classroom environment
5. The instructor fosters peer connections
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Winter Term Student Focus
Groups
• Eligibility: Undergraduate UBC students in the Faculties of Arts and
Science
• Focused on social media and e-newsletter recruitment
• Provided lunch and $10 gift card
• Demographics completed on paper survey a start of focus group
• Arts and Science students participated together
• Sent calendar invites as well as confirmation emails
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Winter Term Student Focus
Groups
• Discuss the concepts of mental health, mental illness and wellbeing
• What teaching practices promote your wellbeing?
• What teaching practices have had a negative impact on your
wellbeing?
• What does a “Safe and Supportive” classroom mean?
• How can an instructor foster connections between classmates?
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29 Student Participants, 7 focus
groups
Faculty Gender Year Level
20 Arts
9 Science
22 Female
7 Male
1st – 6
2nd – 6
3rd – 3
4th – 11
5th+ - 3
• 2 self-identified mature students
• 4 international students
• All students enrolled full-time
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Analysis
Inductive low-level coding of winter term focus groups
Group low-level codes into categories, apply to data
Group and summarize data for each category
Review and revise categories, re-apply todata
Repeat process two more times
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Student Focus Group Findings
• Inductive content analysis of the student focus groups identified five
themes:
1. The instructor fosters a sense of belonging
2. The instructor supports the whole student
3. The course content is meaningful and relevant to the student
4. The learning process is engaging
5. The instructor effectively supports student learning
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2016 Survey
• Same 4 questions, but updated the list of teaching
practices
• Split double barreled questions
• Added other teaching practices based on responses
• Used constant sum data for question 2, To what extent do
these teaching practices positively impact your wellbeing
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2016 Survey Findings
• How often have you experienced the following
teaching practices in your courses this academic
year?
• Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Frequently, Always
• N=5548
• Descriptive statistics
• Correlated with other questions about the student
experience Slight positive correlation
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2016 Survey Findings
• How would you rate the following teaching practices in
terms of the degree to which they have positively
impacted your wellbeing? Rate the following teaching
practices by distributing 100 points amongst them. Note
that by giving a teaching practice more points you are
indicating that it has had a greater impact on your
wellbeing.
• N=5548
• Constant sum data proved difficult to analyze
• Analyzing the means proved most useful
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2016 Survey Findings
• How would you rate the following teaching practices in
terms of the degree to which they have positively
impacted your wellbeing?
• Top 3:
When the instructor is clear about how students can
catch up on required, prerequisite knowledge they are
missing
11.37
When the instructor is flexible with assignment deadlines 10.59
When the instructor suggests effective study strategies for
the course10.25
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2016 Survey Findings
• Are there any teaching practices that you feel are
missing from the above list?
• N = 873
• Inductive content analysis
• Findings consistent with previous survey and focus group
findings
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2016 Survey Findings
• Pease list the specific instructors who you believe
have supported your wellbeing as a student over the
past 12 months.
• Not analyzed
Research Findings
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Student wellbeing is supported
through:
1. Effective Teaching Strategies: Students are motivated
to learn and feel they are learning effectively.
2. Belonging & Social Inclusion: Students feel connected
to their peers and the instructor.
3. Support for the Whole Student: Instructors recognize
that the student experience extends beyond academics.
KNOWLEDGE TRANSLATION
& IMPLEMENTATION
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Teaching Practices Checklist:
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Thank you!
https://blogs.ubc.ca/teachingandwellbeing/
This project was funded by the
Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund, UBC