Synthesizing Mindfulness with Subject-Specific Study Strategies

1. Synthesizing Mindfulness with Subject-Specific Study Strategies Presented by: Yatta David and Elizabeth Japczyk Pitt Community College

2. Learning Objectives • Understand Memory Processes • Comprehend Issues in Content Retention • Devise Study Strategies to Alleviate Issues • Learn how to Utilize Mindfulness in the Tutorial Session • Keep student engaged in present moment • Manage stress that may inhibit memory processes

3. How Do We Process Information?

4. The Three Stage Model of Memory • Sensory Memory • Attention • Cocktail Party Problem • STM Rehearsal Methods • Maintenance Rehearsal • Chunking • LTM Consolidation – Semantic Coding • Levels of Processing Theory • Elaborative Rehearsal (Openstax, 2016). • Influenced by Understanding (Lefrancois, 2000). • Reciprocal for the Tutor • Mindfulness

5. What Issues Can Affect Student Outcomes? • Retrieval Theory – failing to access stored memories (Nevid, 2015). • Forgetting • Encoding Failure (Openstax, 2016).

6. Memory Activity! • Number your paper from 1-15 • Listen to the list of words being read • After each word is read aloud, write down the first two things you can think of to describe that word • Do not write down the word itself! • Flip your paper over and await further instructions… • Lack of Retrieval Cues  Limited ability to recall

7. How Can We Enhance Content Retention and Recall Ability? • Play to the strengths of your student • Microadaptation (Siler & VanLehn, 2015). • Conversational Turns - Shaping • Elaborate on the material • Levels of Processing Theory (Openstax, 2016) • Self-Reference Effect (Nevid, 2015). • Scaffolding • Connect new topics to old • Semantic Network (Nevid, 2015). • Set clear learning objectives

8. Rehearsal and Organization • Remember sensory preferences! • Visual learners • Prefer visual representation(s) of content • May prefer diagrams, charts, color coded material • Verbal learners • Prefer lecturing and discussion • May prefer discussion and dialogue • Kinesthetic learners • Prefer learning through a “hands-on” style • May prefer activities incorporating movement • Multi-modal learners • Combination • Assess student (McCutchen & Riney, 2016).

9. Managing Stress • Stress preoccupies the student • Interferes with memory and attention (Nevid, 2015). • Refocus the student • Maximize session time

10. Student Population STRESS!!!

11. Types of Stress • Acute stress -Most common -Short-term • Episodic acute stress -Frequent acute stress • Chronic stress -Long-term, reoccurring American Psychology Association

12. STRESS CASCADE MOOD STRESS SELF-EFFICAY BEHAVIOR PERFORMANCE

13. What is mindfulness? • Mindfulness means maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment. (“Greater Good," n.d., para. 1).  • Mindfulness also involves acceptance, meaning that we pay attention to our thoughts and feelings without judging them—without believing, for instance, that there’s a “right” or “wrong” way to think or feel in a given moment. When we practice mindfulness, our thoughts tune into what we’re sensing in the present moment rather than rehashing the past or imagining the future. (“Greater Good," n.d., para. 2).

14. Literature Review of the Effectiveness of Mindfulness in Students "Mindfulness Training for Stress Management: A Randomized Controlled Study of Medical and Psychology Students.” Study Summary: • This study examines the effect of a seven-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) programme on mental distress, study stress, burnout, subjective well-being, and mindfulness of medical and psychology students. (de Vibe, 2013) Interesting Results: • “the seven-week course in mindfulness training reduced mental distress and improved student well-being independent of the student classes (medicine or psychology), university locations (Oslo and Tromsø), and course instructors.” (de Vibe, 2013) • “Female medical and psychology students experienced significant positive improvements in mental distress, study stress, subjective well-being and mindfulness after participating in the MBSR programme.” (de Vibe, 2013)

15. Literature Review of the Effectiveness of Mindfulness in Students • “Facing the fear of failure: An explorative qualitative study of client experiences in a mindfulness-based stress reduction program for university students with academic evaluation anxiety” Study Summary: • The aim of this qualitative study was to investigate the subjective experiences of 29 university students who participated in an 8-weekmindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program for academic evaluation anxiety. Participants who self-referred to the Student Counseling Service underwent individual semi-structured interviews about how they experienced the personal relevance and practical usefulness of taking the MBSR program. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed through a team-based explorative-reflective thematic approach based on a hermeneutic-phenomenological epistemology (Hjeltnes, 2015)

16. Literature Review of the Effectiveness of Mindfulness in Students • “Facing the fear of failure: An explorative qualitative study of client experiences in a mindfulness-based stress reduction program for university students with academic evaluation anxiety” • Interesting Results: • “Moving from fear to curiosity in academic learning”/ ”Staying focused in learning situations” (Hjeltnes, 2015)

17. Burning Question of the Hour! • When do I engage in “mindfulness” in a session?

18. The Tutoring Cycle

19. How to incorporate mindfulness in tutoring ? For Tutors • Mindfulness in language • Mindfulness in boundaries For Students • Memory Palace Exercise • Raisin Exercise: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYDXQQBojk8 • Three minute Mindfulness Meditation Exercise- Head Space App/

20. Raisin Exercise- With a Twist

21. References • de Vibe, Michael, et al. "Mindfulness Training for Stress Management: A Randomised Controlled Study of Medical and Psychology Students." BMC Medical Education 13 (2013): 107. ProQuest.  • Hjeltnes, A., Binder, P., Moltu, C., & Dundas, I. (2015). Facing the fear of failure: An explorative qualitative study of client experiences in a mindfulness- based stress reduction program for university students with academic evaluation anxiety. International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being,10doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/qhw.v10.27990 • Lefrancois, G.R. (2000). Theories of human learning: What the old man said. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning. • McCutchen, G.M. (2016) Success by design. Plymouth, MI: Hayden-McNeil LLC. • Mindfulness. In the Greater Good Science of Life a Meaningful Life (n.d.). Retrieved from http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/topic/mindfulness/definition • Nevid, J.S. (2015). Essentials of psychology:Concepts and applications. Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning. • Openstax. (2016). Psychology. Houston, TX: Rice University. • Siler, S. A., & VanLehn, K. (2015). Investigating Microadaptation in One-to-One Human Tutoring. Journal Of Experimental Education, 83(3), 344-367. doi:10.1080/00220973.2014.907224