Wellbeing in Learning Environments at UBC
As students work to achieve their academic goals, they are also balancing multiple challenges and priorities, including jobs, finances, and personal relationships; all of which impact their capacity to learn and thrive.
The learning environment also impacts student wellbeing; fostering an environment that promotes student wellbeing can lead to more effective learning. Over the past decade, several projects at UBC, funded through the Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund, have explored wellbeing in teaching and learning environments.
The Mental Health Needs Assessment (MHNA) was launched in 2012 in response to research findings indicating that a significant portion of UBC students experienced mental health concerns, and that these concerns had a negative effect on students’ academic performance.
This TLEF- funded project sought to identify teaching practices that are effective at both promoting effective learning and supporting student wellbeing.
In 2017, a three-year Teaching Learning Enhancement Fund (TLEF) project began to explore the impact of wellbeing in learning environments on student learning. The project, titled Building Academic Tenacity in Students for Improved Wellbeing, Deeper Learning and Increased Success, engaged professors from a variety of Faculties in integrating strategies to promoting academic tenacity and students’ ability to thrive in stressful academic environments. Research indicates that educational strategies that support academic tenacity and wellbeing can lead to deeper learning and improved academic success.
Throughout Year 1 (2017-2018) and Year 2 (2018-2019), twelve projects to promote academic tenacity were implemented across sites and evaluated. Now in Year 3, the TLEF project is focusing on ways to integrate and apply research findings across the university.
Learn more about how participating faculty members embedded wellbeing into their unique learning environments:
BIOL 112 – Fostering Self-Regulation in 1st Year Science
KIN 371 - Exploring Self-Compassion in an Undergrad Statistics Course
MECH 221 - Intro of a Mental Health Literacy Curriculum
OSOT 511 - Learning in the Natural Environment
PSYC 217- TA Training for Student Wellbeing
PSYC 217- Belonging & Wellbeing in Undergrad Psych Courses
SOCI 102 – Impact of Improving Access to Office Hours
TLEF Project Explores Strategies for Student Wellbeing
The project, titled Building Academic Tenacity in Students for Improved Wellbeing, Deeper Learning and Increased Success, engaged professors from a variety of Faculties in integrating strategies to promoting academic tenacity and students’ ability to thrive in stressful academic environments.
Learn more about how participating faculty members embedded wellbeing into their unique learning environments:
BIOL 112 – Fostering Self-Regulation in 1st Year Science
KIN 371 - Exploring Self-Compassion in an Undergrad Statistics Course
MECH 221 - Intro of a Mental Health Literacy Curriculum
OSOT 511 - Learning in the Natural Environment
PSYC 217- TA Training for Student Wellbeing
PSYC 217- Belonging & Wellbeing in Undergrad Psych Courses
SOCI 102 – Impact of Improving Access to Office Hours