Does variability across three universities in the implementation of a college course on human flourishing affect student outcomes?

Abstract

Objective

This study explores whether variability in the implementation of an undergraduate course on human flourishing is differentially associated with student outcomes.

Participants

101 students in the “Art and Science of Human Flourishing” course across three large, public, R1 universities in Fall 2018 participated in the study.

Methods

Formative course data included researcher observations of weekly class pedagogy, students’ weekly meditation practice logs and end-of-course assessments, and pre/post surveys measuring changes in participating students’ outcomes related to flourishing (e.g., attentional skills, social-emotional skills, perspectives on flourishing, mental and physical health).

Results

Although course pedagogy and student engagement varied across the three universities, students’ outcomes were nonetheless similar.

Conclusions

Variability in course implementation did not appear to differentially affect students’ outcomes. We tentatively conclude that other institutions interested in offering the flourishing course may make limited adaptations to fit their pedagogical preferences without concern for altering its impact on students.

Keywords:

• Flourishing
• teaching
• wellbeing
• stress
• holistic education

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of the United States of America and received approval from the Institutional Review Boards of Pennsylvania State University, the University of Virginia, and the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Additional information

Funding

No funding was used to support this research and/or the preparation of the manuscript.