Eliciting student perspectives to inform the design of positive psychology courses: a qualitative study

ABSTRACT

Undergraduate positive psychology courses are typically semester-long educational courses or units of study dedicated to providing students with an understanding of the science of wellbeing and the factors contributing to optimal human functioning. A number of universities around the world offer positive psychology courses, yet little is known about students’ perspectives of these courses. Evaluating students’ perspectives may enable educators to modify courses to better address students’ needs, which in turn, may increase engagement with, and learning in these courses. This study provides an in-depth account of students’ perspectives on a positive psychology course offered at an Australian university. After completing the course, nine students participated in focus groups to discuss their experiences. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, three superordinate categories (and 14 subcategories) were identified, namely, interest in wellbeing, beneficial to wellbeing, and balancing competing needs. Participants expressed interest in learning about wellbeing, experienced the course as beneficial for wellbeing, and recognised several challenges in delivering course content. The richness of these results supports the utility of assessing and evaluating students’ perspectives using a qualitative approach, and the emerging themes provide insights into the aspects of positive psychology courses more broadly that may enhance students’ learning and wellbeing.

KEYWORDS:

• Student wellbeing
• higher education
• positive psychology course
• positive education
• student perspectives

Introduction

Over the past three decades, the mental health and wellbeing of undergraduate university students has deservedly received international research attention. A review of this literature suggests that the psychological functioning of many students from diverse academic backgrounds is impaired from the beginning of tertiary education, irrespective of prior functioning, and progressively deteriorates over the duration of their degrees (Sharp & Theiler, 2018). This is a global phenomenon, as data from large surveys of students from a number of Western (Auerbach et al., 2018) and South East Asian countries (Dessauvagie et al., 2022) indicate concerning levels of psychological distress, with approximately one in three or four students experiencing a mental disorder during their tertiary education. Similarly, data from Australian studies indicate significantly higher psychological distress among students compared to age-matched peers from the general population, with one study reporting 4.4 times more distress among students (Leahy et al., 2010), and another documenting approximately 84% of students with meaningful levels of psychological distress compared to only 29% of peers (Stallman, 2010). These findings indicate that undergraduate university students are a vulnerable population. Among the experiences within the university environment that might contribute to this vulnerability, and impair students’ mental health and wellbeing, are higher workloads, assessment-related stress, and feelings of not belonging, and lower teacher autonomy support, motivation for study, and peer relationships (Larcombe et al., 2021). This vulnerability was further heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic due to increased uncertainty and independent learning, combined with disruptions to routines and social resources (Grubic et al., 2020), which under the need for universities to provide augmented support for students’ wellbeing.

The negative impact of psychological distress on university students further highlights the need for solutions. Specifically, higher levels of psychological distress in university student populations have been linked to poorer academic performance (Sharp & Theiler, 2018; Stallman, 2010). Furthermore, mental health difficulties have been associated with a higher frequency of problematic health behaviours, including smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol, and self-harm or suicide (Sharp & Theiler, 2018). These negative outcomes have the potential to not only impact students’ physical and mental health, productivity, and future careers, but also the public image and profile of universities.

To mitigate these negative outcomes, universities have introduced free medical and counselling services. However, counsellor-to-student ratios and the average number of sessions attended per student are consistently low, suggesting that these services are inadequately equipped to respond effectively to students’ needs (Stallman, 2012). Counselling services are also not readily accessed by students, with utilisation rates ranging from two to four percent across different studies (Raunic & Xenos, 2008). This data suggests that there may be barriers to accessing counselling services or that they may not align with students’ needs. Furthermore, counselling services are designed to treat mental health symptoms and enhance students’ ability to cope with stress, as opposed to improving the aforementioned university experiences that might impair their mental health and wellbeing.

To address some of these university experiences, and thus enhance students’ learning and wellbeing, there has been a call for universities to make changes to the curriculum to include formal teaching on wellbeing. Various setting-based interventions have been introduced to achieve this goal, and although these appear promising, there are currently very few high quality efficacy studies (Fernandez et al., 2016). Theoretical models of wellbeing have also been developed in coinciding fields of research, including positive psychology which is the scientific study of wellbeing and the conditions under which humans function optimally (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). In these fields of research, wellbeing is considered to be more than the absence of psychopathology, and two key types have been identified: (1) the experience of positive subjective states, which is referred to as hedonic or subjective wellbeing, and (2) functioning effectively, which is referred to as eudaimonic or psychological wellbeing (Ryan & Deci, 2001). On the basis of these definitions, the PERMA+ model (Seligman, 2012) outlines five key aspects of wellbeing, including positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment, with physical health, sleep, nutrition, and optimism added more recently. Including constructs that are both shared and distinct from the PERMA+ model, the model of psychological wellbeing (Ryff, 1989) outlines six key aspects of eudaimonic wellbeing, including self-acceptance, positive relations with others, autonomy, environmental mastery, purpose in life, and personal growth. By defining the key aspects of wellbeing, these theoretical models enable it to be measured, targeted, and enhanced.

Accordingly, a branch of research within positive psychology called positive education has begun applying these theoretical models of wellbeing to educational settings, including universities, to enhance students’ wellbeing and learning by teaching skills for both wellbeing and academic outcomes (Seligman et al., 2009). Specifically, several universities have integrated wellbeing theory or activities into existing courses of study (Magyar-Moe, 2011), while others offer semester-long positive psychology courses as optional units of study in their curriculum, which are dedicated to teaching the science of wellbeing and providing opportunities for experiential learning (Young et al., 2022). The majority of these positive psychology courses include teaching on wellbeing theory, and the practice of positive psychology interventions, that is, empirically-validated activities that cultivate positive emotions, thoughts, and actions (Seligman et al., 2005). However, there is considerable variation in the structure, theoretical content, and the positive psychology interventions included in these courses.

This variation is perhaps not surprising as there are few quantitative or qualitative evaluations of these courses, leaving educators with an inadequate research base upon which to design them. Most investigations simply provide narrative descriptions of these courses from the educators’ perspectives (Russo-Netzer & Ben-Shahar, 2011), and as a result, neglect students’ perspectives. As students are privy to otherwise inaccessible insights about courses (Busher, 2012), understanding their perspectives aids in designing courses tailored to their needs, which in turn, may increase their engagement with, and learning, in these courses. Consistent with this, engaging students in participatory action research to implement positive education into the secondary school curriculum was found to facilitate a better understanding of their wellbeing needs, and promoted their engagement and self-efficacy (Halliday et al., 2019). Surveying students on how universities can enhance their wellbeing has also yielded rich information about a diverse range of factors (Baik et al., 2019), and may foster a sense of empowerment and partnership (Busher, 2012). These are arguably important goals for positive psychology courses to pursue given engagement, mastery, autonomy, and positive relationships are key aspects of wellbeing (Halliday et al., 2019). In spite of this, only one study has gone further than reporting the results of standard, university administered, course evaluations when reviewing positive psychology courses (Shrivastava et al., 2022). Whilst insightful, this study largely focused on beliefs about positive psychology and the perceived impact of positive psychology interventions among final year psychology students. As such, there remains a need to conduct more comprehensive evaluations of students’ perspectives on various aspects of these courses.

The current study aims to address this gap in the positive education literature. To our knowledge, this is the first Australian study to use a qualitative approach to provide an in-depth assessment of undergraduate students’ experiences within a comprehensive positive psychology course designed to enhance students’ learning and wellbeing. This course offered broad coverage of wellbeing theories, research evidence, and practices. As such, its evaluation from a student perspective enables insights into many of the aspects featuring in positive psychology courses that can, in turn, be used to assist academics and educators to better understand and address students’ wellbeing needs when designing positive psychology courses within university settings. It also provides an example of a simple method for exploring students’ perspectives of such courses and involving them in their design and evaluation.

Materials and methods

Participants

Nine undergraduate students (eight female) who completed a positive psychology course at the Australian National University (ANU) were recruited for this study in 2019. Participants were aged between 19 and 37 years (M = 22.33, SD = 6.06). All but two participants were born in Australia, with five identifying as Caucasian, two identifying as East Asian, and one each identifying as South Asian and Middle Eastern. One participant was married, while the remaining were single and had never married. Secondary schooling was the highest level of education completed by seven participants, with the remaining two participants having completed an undergraduate degree and a doctoral degree, respectively. Seven participants were full-time, domestic students, two participants were part-time domestic students, and one was a full-time, international student. Six of these participants were in the first year of their undergraduate degrees, and the remaining three were in their third and fourth years. Finally, four participants were completing degrees related to health and medicine, three were completing degrees related to science, and two were completing degrees in the arts and social sciences.

The positive psychology course

This introductory-level positive psychology course was offered at the ANU for the first time in 2019, and has been available to students every year following as an optional unit of study with no prerequisite knowledge required. Accordingly, students undertaking any undergraduate degree at the university were eligible to enrol and complete the course, with between 200 to 300 participants choosing to do so every year between 2019 and 2023.

The course consisted of 12, two-hour lectures, delivered in-person by various lecturers. Specifically, the course convenor delivered the first and last lectures for the course, while 10 different lecturers, selected on the basis of their research expertise, delivered each of the core lectures. Since lecture attendance was not mandatory, every lecture was recorded using audio-visual technology and made available online for students to review in their own time. Additionally, there were no mandatory tutorials.

The first lecture introduced key concepts and controversies in the wellbeing literature, and provided an overview of the PERMA+ model (Seligman, 2012) and the model of psychological wellbeing (Ryff, 1989) as the theoretical underpinnings of the course. Each lecture following this focused on a specific component of these models (i.e. positive emotions, engagement, positive relationships, meaning and purpose in life, accomplishment and mastery, self-acceptance, autonomy, personal growth, and physical health and health behaviours). An additional lecture focused on societal determinants of wellbeing, with a final lecture providing an integration of key concepts. In each lecture, students were also prescribed a scientific paper and a popular scientific paper to read or video to view, and were given a take-home positive psychology intervention designed to enhance the aspect of wellbeing addressed in the lecture. These included the three good things exercise, completing a gratitude letter or visit, a savouring exercise, performing random acts of kindness, identifying character strengths, using signature strengths in new ways, goal-setting, self-compassionate letter writing, the best possible self exercise, and engaging in physical activity (Bolier et al., 2013; White et al., 2019). As part of their assessments, students were required to complete each week’s positive psychology intervention and provide a brief, guided written reflection of their experience. They were also required to complete an essay, in which they critically reviewed the literature on positive psychology interventions to develop their own individualised wellbeing plans, and to pass an end-of-semester exam.

The study was advertised to students enrolled in this course at the end of the teaching period via an email which instructed interested students to contact the primary investigator directly, who was not involved in the delivery or assessment of the course. Interested students were also selected on the basis of their openness to experience given its correlation with the ability to reflect critically (Clifford et al., 2004), which was considered essential for achieving a comprehensive understanding of students’ perspectives on the course. This was measured using the 12-item openness to experience subscale of the NEO Five Factor Inventory (Costa & McCrae, 1992), and those who scored above 30 (55^th percentile) on this measure were included as participants of the study, as this score represents the upper limit of the average range in normed data. No participants were omitted on this basis. The study received ethical approval from the ANU human research ethics committee (protocol number: 2019/177).

Procedure

Students interested in participating were asked to complete a survey hosted by Qualtrics Survey Software, which was used to assess the inclusion criteria. Eligible participants were invited to one of two focus groups with five and four participants respectively. Both focus groups were conducted after the end of the examination period for the semester, at separate times in a small teaching room. Participants were provided information about the study and their written consent to participate was obtained. Participants then took part in a 90-minute focus group discussion about their experiences in the course, which was guided by various open-ended questions, including reasons for enrolling in the course, strengths and weaknesses of the course, impact on personal growth and development, understanding of the science and practice of wellbeing, and course satisfaction. This discussion was audio-recorded for transcription and analysis, and participants received AUD$15.00 for their participation.

Analysis

The principles of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) informed the procedure and analysis of this study (Biggerstaff & Thompson, 2008; Smith, 1996). Specifically, the focus group discussions were led by participants, and the questions used to guide them were not prescriptive or limiting. Furthermore, analysis using IPA enabled the identification of emerging themes, as focus group transcripts were independently reviewed by the researchers to generate an initial list of themes and sub-themes, with any discrepancies resolved via discussion.

Results

Participants described both positive and negative aspects of the course, with three superordinate categories identified: interest in wellbeing, beneficial to wellbeing, and balancing competing needs. Within each, a number of subcategories were detected (i.e. four subcategories of interest in wellbeing, six subcategories of beneficial to wellbeing, and four subcategories of balancing competing needs).

Interest in wellbeing

Participants described four relatively independent subcategories related to interest in wellbeing.

Reasons for an interest in wellbeing

Sixty-seven percent (n = 6) of participants perceived learning about the topic of wellbeing and the factors that contribute to improving wellbeing as enjoyable and interesting: ‘I really enjoyed the idea of studying psychology that focused on just happiness and flourishing, rather than all the other darker sides of psychology’. The topic of wellbeing was also perceived to be interesting due to its practical relevance compared to other courses: ‘It was very different from my biology or chemistry courses and it had a lot more real application for me, something that I could start using straight away’ and ‘I was more engaged and less likely to zone out in the lectures … it was just a time to process and reflect, and that was important … because they’re not just throwing content at you. It’s relevant’.

Reason for enrolment, ongoing attendance, and course satisfaction

An interest in wellbeing also contributed to enrolment and ongoing attendance for 67% (n = 6) of participants, and course satisfaction in all participants. For instance, this interest reportedly resulted in them being more engaged in the course compared to their other courses and helped them to remember content beyond the course: ‘I was enjoying [the lectures] so I came to them longer than I came to my other classes’ and ‘the knowledge is still lingering and is still there compared to other courses’. The course also offered an appropriate and convenient opportunity for participants to satisfy their interest in wellbeing: ‘It was something … that I knew I needed to work on … so I thought this would be a good way’ and ‘It’s something I wanted to do outside of university, so I found this course … a first-year psych course that I can pick up and it aligns with my other interests’.

Course dissatisfaction

However, an interest in wellbeing also contributed to course dissatisfaction for 22% (n = 2) of participants. In one case the participant’s high level of interest in wellbeing exceeded the range of concepts and activities covered in the course: ‘It was so interesting, I wanted to know more’. That is, the participant was unsatisfied with the scope of the content, with greater depth or breadth sought. For another participant, course dissatisfaction stemmed from unrealistic expectations of the impact of the course: ‘I had a bit of a romanticised view of what would happen … how I would be after the course’. However, this participant also recognised the personal effort and intentional action required to experience benefits from the course: ‘I guess knowing all this is different from applying it, so it’s definitely something that I need to keep working on’.

Disinterest in wellbeing

Conversely, a disinterest in wellbeing amongst one’s peers was reported by one participant (11%), who noted that the topic of wellbeing could be perceived as non-academic, and thus, result in disengagement from the subject matter: ‘When I told people I was doing a positive psychology course … they would say “that’s stupid”’. The course did not completely assuage this concern for the participant, who stated that: ‘I’m still a little bit sceptical’.

Beneficial to wellbeing

Participants described six relatively independent subcategories within the theme of the course being beneficial for wellbeing.

Types of benefits

All participants (n = 9) noted various benefits for wellbeing resulting from the course. These included gaining greater self-awareness (e.g. identifying their areas of strength and weakness) and using this knowledge to manage their wellbeing: ‘I learnt a lot about myself … where I struggle and where I could improve’ and ‘The entire time I was learning not just for the [exam] but for myself as well’. Participants also viewed this knowledge as useful for the future, and found themselves spontaneously remembering and applying it outside of the course: ‘The course … has given me really good little pushes in the right direction, and in the future, I’m sure that I will kind of go “ping”, that’s something I learnt about’ and ‘The things that I learnt I can apply … compared to other courses … after weeks or exams … I can’t remember any content’. This learning also enabled participants to help others around them who may be struggling: ‘There were like little helpful takeaways … things I can help my friends with’.

Theory and practice

The benefits for wellbeing appeared to stem from both the theoretical and applied components of the course. Regarding the theoretical components, participants found the course to be helpful due to the knowledge they gained about positive psychology and the different components of wellbeing: ‘Something that clarified in the course itself, that a good life doesn’t necessarily mean being happy. It’s about being able to learn from negative experiences and things like that’ and ‘In my mind positive psychology was like relationships and self-compassion, and those were definitely really important … but there were a lot of things that I didn’t realise were part of it as well’ such as physical health and autonomy.

Regarding the course’s practical components, participants reported learning various helpful techniques for improving their wellbeing, and highlighted the importance of not only engaging in the weekly wellbeing activities but also completing the required self-reflection exercise accompanying each activity: ‘I found I was using them in my other courses to manage stress, and applying them, like just in my own daily life as well’ and ‘Doing the activities was all obviously good … but I found that reflecting on them was one of the most helpful bits … I actually really thought about it … It was really important’.

Critical and evidence-based approach

Fifty-six percent (n = 5) of participants also perceived the course to be beneficial for wellbeing due to its critical and evidence-based approach to teaching: ‘I want to make science-based or empirically-based changes in my life relating to wellbeing … and I think I got what I was hoping to learn from it’. Though participants had access to information about wellbeing, they felt that its credibility was often unclear: ‘We’ve all been told these wellbeing things you can do to feel better … I really wanted to know what’s legitimate’. Accordingly, participants considered receiving information about the limitations of wellbeing research to be beneficial, as it cultivated trust, and thus increased the likelihood of their engagement: ‘Knowing about the limitations actually makes me trust somebody more … it made me more curious’. Participants also noted that a critical approach assists them to manage their expectations of the course (‘I feel like that makes it a little bit more realistic’) and develop a comprehensive understanding of both what is known and, importantly, what remains unknown regarding the science of wellbeing (‘The thing is … in some areas there isn’t that much science … there isn’t that much research, I think it would be nice if they said that’).

Flexibility

Additionally, the flexibility offered by the course was noted by 22% (n = 2) of participants as beneficial for wellbeing. Specifically, the variety of different concepts and techniques included enabled them to tailor their learning to their specific interests and needs: ‘Getting such a good overview meant that you could go “this works for me, I can kind of implement that” or “this is such an interesting field, let me read into it more”’.

Peer support

The peer support offered by the course was also identified as beneficial for wellbeing by 22% (n = 2) of participants. The main form of peer support identified by these participants was the interactive discussion of the previous week’s wellbeing activity that took place at the beginning of each lecture: ‘It was really valuable to listen and hear what everybody else said’. However, 78% (n = 7) of participants were disinterested in augmenting the course with small class sessions, even if this provided an avenue for obtaining further peer support, most often due to concerns regarding the additional workload.

Supportive tone

Similarly, the supportive tone of the course was reported as beneficial for wellbeing by 67% (n = 6) of participants. This tone was characterised by passionate and approachable lecturers who reportedly conveyed a genuine care for the learning and wellbeing of their students: ‘I appreciated that all of the lecturers had different fields that they were coming in and talking about, and that all of them seemed like they genuinely wanted to be there’ and ‘I liked the environment … the lecturers were really engaging, very passionate … it definitely made it more interesting’.

Balancing competing needs

Participants described four relatively independent subcategories that highlight the need to be aware of balancing competing needs.

Accessible versus complex content

Mixed views were reported regarding the complexity of course content. The accessible nature of content was identified as a reason for enrolment in the course by 22% (n = 2) of participants: ‘I had not done any psychology ever, and it looked like something you could jump straight into it and that was the case’. Moreover, 33% (n = 3) of participants experienced the accessible content as helpful for their wellbeing. Specifically, the comprehensible content and non-demanding wellbeing activities were easy to apply: ‘I can remember and apply it, and I hope I will continue to do it’. The accessibility of content also reduced the stress that can be triggered by highly demanding courses: ‘You could be fairly confident that if you just did [the weekly wellbeing activities], you were going to do quite well and that made me reflect more and stress less about it’ and ‘It wasn’t like my other courses where it’s more technical and harder … it was kind of my course to unwind because I could just sit back and watch it’.

However, while most participants noted the positive impact of the accessible content, another 33% (n = 3) noted the potential negative impact on engagement of lectures that were not challenging and suggested that course content lacked depth: ‘I ended up watching [the lectures] at one and a half or two times the speed, and found them actually more interesting that way because I felt it was a bit too slow otherwise’.

Depth versus breadth

The balance between the depth and breadth of information covered by the course was another competing need identified by 44% (n = 4) of participants. Some participants wanted a greater depth of information, as this would have provided a more critical evaluation of the content delivered. While others recognised the benefits of having a broad overview of a range of different concepts and activities, as this enabled them to tailor the course to their own interests and needs: ‘I often left a lecture going this is awesome but I want to know what the limitations are and what they considered and what they didn’t consider in the studies’, while somewhat qualifying this by commenting, ‘If you wanted to know more you could do the reading, but if [the course] went too much more in depth, then we really wouldn’t have gotten to know as much as we did’.

Academic learning versus wellbeing

Balancing a focus on academic versus wellbeing goals was identified by 78% (n = 7) of participants as another competing need. Participants perceived there to be a tension between components of the course that were focused on academic objectives (e.g. assessing understanding of theories and research studies), and components that were practically focused on improving wellbeing (e.g. engaging in wellbeing enhancing activities and designing an individualised wellbeing plan). Some participants appreciated a wellbeing over an academic focus: ‘I was like loving the course and then it got to the exam … you can get tested on anything which was a lot of different stuff’. As previously mentioned, it was noted that making the course more academic or technical may contribute to a rise in students’ stress levels, and thus, be detrimental to their wellbeing. In contrast, others sought a more academic focus: ‘There’s just not enough time to kind of talk about the science behind [wellbeing]’.

Specialist input versus course coherence

The final competing need identified by 44% (n = 4) of participants was the balance between providing students with specialist input while maintaining a sense of course coherence. The diversity of lecturers was noted as a positive for maintaining interest (e.g. it was ‘really nice that it changes up every week’) and for ensuring expertise in the topic (e.g. ‘having different lecturers, like guest lecturers relevant to the field that they’re talking about … that’s really good’). Despite the high level of specialisation afforded by this diversity, a sense of coherence across the course as a whole was attributed to the course convener being present at each lecture, and providing integration across the different lectures by delivering an introductory and concluding lecture.

Discussion

This study was the first to explore students’ perspectives on a positive psychology course designed to enhance student learning and wellbeing by offering a comprehensive coverage of wellbeing theories, research, and practices. As such, it provides an example of a simple method for exploring students’ perspectives of such courses and involving them in their design and evaluation. By exploring students’ perspectives, the study also provides academics and educators with an insight into students’ perceptions of this course, with the emerging themes of relevance for designing wellbeing courses more broadly.

The first superordinate category identified was an interest in wellbeing. Participants reported an interest in the topic of wellbeing, which was attributed to the concept itself and its relevance to their daily lives. Given that positive psychology courses have been developed in part to address the high levels of psychological distress among university student populations, it is important that participants endorsed the course as a convenient and appropriate opportunity to focus on their wellbeing. Similarly, a qualitative investigation of medical students’ experiences within a wellness course found that wellbeing issues were important to them and participating in the course enabled them to engage in wellbeing activities without feeling guilty (Lee & Graham, 2001). Research conducted with primary and high school students also suggests that they are interested in learning about wellbeing, particularly when this is integrated into the curriculum following student input (Halliday et al., 2019). Together, such data suggests that there is interest in learning about wellbeing among student populations, and that a positive psychology course may be an especially acceptable vehicle for delivering this information to university students, given that it is not an additional undertaking but integrated within existing course requirements. As the real-world relevance and convenience of the course made it a particularly appealing choice for the participants of this study, this is an important consideration for the design and delivery of such courses and university wellbeing initiatives more broadly.

The fact that not all participants reported an interest in wellbeing courses highlights the need to address potential barriers in students accessing this avenue of support for their wellbeing. Specifically, one participant reported a disinterest in positive psychology amongst their peers, stemming primarily from the perception that it is non-academic. In response, other participants attributed this disinterest to a perceived lack of critical discussion of wellbeing research within positive psychology. As with the current research, initial feelings of apprehension and scepticism towards a 20 hour positive psychology workshop have been observed amongst students undertaking postgraduate training in clinical psychology (Guse, 2010). Despite these initial reactions from some students, others reflected that this workshop validated their world-view and interest in supporting humans to thrive. Furthermore, all students subsequently reported that the workshop was impactful personally and professionally, which unders the need to address negative perceptions of positive psychology courses so that students are able to reap these benefits. According to the participants of the present study, ensuring the content included in courses is critical and grounded in evidence may address at least one factor contributing to disinterest in wellbeing courses among students.

Interestingly, the current study found that participants’ generally high levels of interest in wellbeing generated both course satisfaction and dissatisfaction. The course satisfaction observed may be at least partially explained by Self-Determination Theory (SDT; Ryan & Deci, 2000), as it suggests that students may be more engaged, and thus, more satisfied with their learning when feelings of competence, autonomy, and relatedness are enhanced. Accordingly, Filak and Sheldon (2003) found that undergraduate psychology students’ self-rated feelings of competence, autonomy, and relatedness predicted their teacher and course satisfaction scores. In the present study, it is proposed that by targeting the constructs of mastery/accomplishment, autonomy, and positive relationships, the course was able to at least partly address these psychological needs. Conversely, the small number of participants that expressed course dissatisfaction attributed this to limitations in the depth of course content and its impact on their personal development relative to their highly positive expectations of what the course would deliver. Hence, messaging regarding positive psychology courses would benefit from communicating not only their strengths but also the limits of what they can provide. Specifically, educators should communicate that a semester-long positive psychology course cannot be all-inclusive, and position the content covered in their specific course as a small part of an extensive literature. It should also be made explicit that while positive psychology courses provide psychoeducation and practical strategies for enhancing wellbeing, it is ultimately the individual’s continued participation and engagement with this content which contributes to long-term gains.

The second superordinate category that emerged from the data pertained to the benefits of the positive psychology course for students’ wellbeing. The course was perceived to be beneficial for the wellbeing of both self and others, and these benefits were experienced immediately and expected to continue into the future. Previous evaluations of positive psychology courses support these findings, as students experienced a significant increase in their wellbeing between the start and end of a positive psychology course in the United Arab Emirates (Lambert et al., 2018). Similarly, students who completed an Australian positive psychology course maintained their level of wellbeing across the semester, compared to students in a control course who experienced a significant decrease in their wellbeing (Young et al., 2022). Student evaluations of courses that have integrated positive psychology into their syllabus also appear overwhelmingly positive, with students commonly noting the helpfulness and relevance of course content to their daily lives (Kurtz, 2011).

The findings of the current study add to this preliminary evidence, while also providing insight into the factors contributing to enhanced wellbeing. First, participants indicated that it is important for positive psychology courses to include both theoretical and applied components, as both the knowledge and skills gained were perceived to contribute positively to students’ wellbeing and their ability to support others.

Second, participants noted that the course’s critical and evidence-based approach to teaching was beneficial to their wellbeing, as this reportedly addressed common criticisms and limitations of the field, and thus enhanced participants’ understanding of the state of the science, and engagement in and satisfaction with the course. These student comments are consistent with the principles of positive education, which state that the research evidence must be a central feature of wellbeing courses (Seligman et al., 2009), as well as conceptualisations of effective teaching, which recommend stimulating students’ ability to think critically for engagement and learning (Devlin & Samarawickrema, 2010).

Third, participants identified the course’s flexibility as beneficial for their wellbeing, as the variety of topics and techniques covered enabled them to tailor their learning to meet their individual needs. This is supported by the findings of a qualitative exploration of students’ experiences in higher education, which found that students considered flexibility in their learning environment important for their wellbeing, as it minimised stress, and thus enabled them to focus on learning in meaningful ways (Stanton et al., 2016).

The fourth aspect of the course identified as beneficial for wellbeing pertained to the relational aspects of the course, including opportunities for peer support and the generally supportive, invested tone set by the course’s educators. Other qualitative studies have similarly indicated that social connection and a sense of belonging to the student community are important for students’ wellbeing (Laidlaw et al., 2016; Stanton et al., 2016), which supports the aforementioned emphasis on relatedness as an essential psychological condition for wellbeing in SDT (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Student wellbeing has also been linked to their perceptions of teachers’ interpersonal behaviours, as students with higher wellbeing scores perceived their teachers to be leading, helpful, and friendly, compared to those with lower wellbeing scores, who perceived their teachers to be strict or admonishing (Van Petegem et al., 2007). Together, these findings highlight the importance of cultivating supportive peer and teacher relationships. According to the participants of the current study, this was achieved in their positive psychology course via the use of class discussions which encouraged peer interaction, and lecturers who conveyed genuine enthusiasm for teaching and student learning.

The final contributor to the benefits of the course for wellbeing was the perceived accessibility of its content, which helped to allay students’ level of study stress. This sub-theme of accessibility emerged in the third and final superordinate category, namely, the importance of balancing competing needs when designing positive psychology courses. These competing needs pertained to the accessible versus complex nature of course content, depth versus breadth of this content, academic versus wellbeing focus of the course, and the specialist input within versus coherence across the different lectures. This is the first study to document students’ perspectives on potentially competing needs within a positive psychology course, and to indicate that they may impact student engagement and satisfaction within these courses.

Mixed views regarding the complexity of the course’s content were observed. As noted, some participants reported that the accessibility of the course content was helpful for their wellbeing as it reduced the stress associated with workload. A recent study suggests that the association between course demands and both stress and wellbeing may, however, be slightly more nuanced, finding that both work overload and assessment-related stress contributed significantly to students’ level of stress, but only assessment-related stress contributed to students’ level of wellbeing (Larcombe et al., 2021). Conversely, other participants in the present study reported that the accessibility of the content reduced their engagement in the course, which is supported by qualitative data indicating students prefer courses that are challenging due to their desire to learn and dislike of feeling bored (Martin et al., 2008). Not meeting a student’s need for accessible yet stimulating content is likely to not only impact course engagement but also their wellbeing. As proposed by Dodge et al. (2012) wellbeing is the:

Balance point between an individual’s resource pool and the challenges faced … When individuals have more challenges than resources, the see-saw dips, along with their wellbeing … [Conversely] a lack of challenge will lead to stagnation, which will also affect the balance of the see-saw. (p. 230)

Another tension that participants noted in the current study was the importance of balancing a focus on achieving academic objectives with wellbeing objectives. The popularity of positive psychology courses has been attributed to their dual focus on the science and practice of wellbeing (Russo-Netzer & Ben-Shahar, 2011), although the present data highlights that these two objectives can operate either synergistically (e.g. when an evidence-based approach enhances engagement in the wellbeing strategies), or in a manner in which they compromise one another (e.g. greater intellectual demands resulting in increased stress).

The final two potentially conflicting needs pertained to balancing the depth and breadth of content, and maintaining course coherence in the context of specialist lecturers. Supporting the importance of attending to these themes, educational experiences characterised by depth or breadth have been correlated with common yet also distinct student learning outcomes (Coker et al., 2017), and the negative impact of structurally and conceptually disjointed courses on students’ learning has been observed within specific areas of education (Hammerness, 2006). Research is needed to build on the limited studies that have investigated the efficacy of methods for balancing these competing needs to enhance students’ engagement and learning.

Limitations and future directions

While in accordance with IPA guidelines, the sample size of this study was small and drawn from only one Australian positive psychology course, which may limit the generalisability of the results. Hence, research exploring students’ perspectives of other positive psychology courses is warranted. Similarly, participants were also predominantly enrolled in arts, science, and health degrees. As such, future research would benefit from exploring perceptions of positive psychology courses among students from broader and more diverse academic disciplines for replicability. The results of the current study may also be biased by the over-representation of female participants, as being female has been identified as a predictor of psychological distress in university student populations (Stallman, 2010), and there may be gender differences in the factors that both enhance and impair students’ wellbeing (Løhre et al., 2014).

Furthermore, this qualitative study was exploratory in nature, and thus, its preliminary findings require further empirical validation. For instance, very few studies have investigated positive psychology courses to determine their efficacy for enhancing students’ wellbeing and course satisfaction. It also remains unknown whether the aspects of the course identified as beneficial for wellbeing in this study (i.e. integration of wellbeing theories and practices, critical and evidence-based approach, flexibility in learning, opportunities for peer support, supportive environment, and accessible and non-demanding workload) demonstrate empirical efficacy. Future research is needed to identify the critical components of positive psychology courses.

Relatedly, future research is needed to establish a best practice guide to support educators to design and deliver these courses. As this study evaluated a comprehensive positive psychology course, our results offer insights into the aspects of course content and delivery that may be important from the students’ perspective. Furthermore, in developing this comprehensive positive psychology course, we considered it important to introduce wellbeing theory at the outset of the course and use this theory to structure course content. In line with this recommendation, a case study of the popular positive psychology course offered at Harvard University identified the integration of theory and practice as a key objective (Russo-Netzer & Ben-Shahar, 2011). Additionally, we ensured lecture content was well aligned with the wellbeing enhancing activities prescribed, and we included reflective writing activities, along with setting applied assessment tasks, to encourage students to use these activities. Similarly, the importance of including opportunities for experiential learning has also been highlighted by leading researchers in the field (Biswas-Diener & Patterson, 2011). Finally, we offered flexibility around course participation with online access to lectures and course materials, as well as opportunities for social connection and support with peers and educators. However, it is unlikely that a uniform approach is best (Oades et al., 2011), reinforcing the need for qualitative evaluation to inform adaptation of course design and delivery to specific student populations or the context of each individual university.

There remains a general lack of information about how to design, conduct, and evaluate undergraduate positive psychology courses which aim to enhance students’ wellbeing. The current study is one of the first to address this gap in the literature by providing a detailed account of students’ perspectives on one of the increasing number of positive psychology courses offered at different universities around the world. It also provides an example of a simple method for exploring students’ perspectives of such courses and involving them in their design and evaluation. It is clear, from students’ perspectives, that there is an appetite for learning about wellbeing, particularly when this is integrated within the university curriculum in the form of a positive psychology course that is both accessible and balanced in its approach. Moreover, the course was perceived to be beneficial to students’ wellbeing, with its inclusion of theory and practical skills for enhancing wellbeing, critical and evidence-based approach to teaching the subject matter, flexible, accessible and non-demanding workload, and provision of peer and academic support identified as contributing factors. Tailoring positive psychology courses according to these student-centred recommendations may enhance their wellbeing and course satisfaction, and thus, should be considered by academics and educators when designing and delivering courses in the future.

Author contributions

Aflaha Khan and Elizabeth Rieger designed the study. Aflaha Khan conducted recruitment, focus groups, preliminary analysis of themes, and development of the manuscript. Elizabeth Rieger conducted analyses of themes and commented on successive drafts of the paper. Both authors had final approval of the submitted and published versions.

Acknowledgments

We gratefully thank the participants of this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This paper did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.