Abstract
Positivity and resilience reinforce each other and form an upward spiral in mental health1. This project aims to further strengthen “positivity and resilience” as an important core value in the College General Education (CGE) curriculum of S.H. Ho College. We therefore propose in this project:
- To develop a series of microfilms simulating some possible stress factors that GESH1010 “Orientation and Outreach” freshmen may have to face with during their coming College and University life and also those that GESH4010 “Work and Productive Life” senior students may have to deal with after they start working in the society.
- To set up a number of copies of “Book of Happiness” (an electronic device with a collection of thought-provoking e-books on mental health) and establish a strong presence of it among our students.
Besides experiential learning, our CGE curriculum comprises 2 core courses. GESH1010 “Orientation and Outreach” is a cornerstone course that facilitates our freshmen to develop a positive attitude towards College and University life. GESH4010 “Work and Productive Life”, on the other hand, is the capstone course that stimulates our senior-year students to think about and to appreciate the many realms of life experiences, and hopefully to nurture a meaningful life.
Both peer support and self-management are important in improving our students’ mental wellbeing. With the help of pre-class microfilms and in-class group discussions on difficulties and adversities faced in life yet under the guidance of positive psychology, we hope our students can nurture a positive mindset and resilience through the activities, and foster self-empowerment thereafter. Facilitating our students to develop a reading habit for relaxation would definitely help them to neutralize at least part of their negative thinking when faced with adversity in life.
Hopefully through the above activities, coping skills against stress and adversity could be instilled and developed at an early stage for our college students. Life influences life and we hope that our students could also pass their positive energy to other University’s students. A healthy psychological wellbeing would certainly equip our students with a robust mindset that is both flexible and resilient, preparing them for the turbulent real world as they graduate.
Reference:
1. Fredrickson, B. (2009). Positivity: Groundbreaking-research to release your inner optimist and thrive. England: Oxford.
Brief write-up
Project objectives
This project aims at strengthening the theme of “positivity and resilience” in the College General Education (CGE) curriculum of S.H. Ho College by:
- Developing a series of microfilms
- Setting up “Book of Happiness” (an electronic device with a collection of thought-provoking e-books on mental health)
Activities, process and outcomes
Two GESH1010 “Orientation and Outreach” microfilms were made (https://youtu.be/bSE0xQcXjuQ & https://youtu.be/FnuSwg7qeO8). The GESH4010 “Work and Productive Life” microfilm is still in production with target completion by December 2019.
Project supervisors and CGE teachers have chosen 22 titles on mental health. The e-books are purchased and made available in 11 kindle readers for all S.H. Ho students and College members for loan.
Deliverables and evaluation
The microfilms, accompanied with discussion questions designed by students, have been used as supportive teaching tools in the course starting 2017/18. Until now, all instructors have chosen to display the films in the lecture. Responses of course instructors and students were very positive.
Our survey revealed students generally welcomed reading on Kindle. The readers were mainly borrowed by GESH4010 students as reference of their course essays, as well as GESH4010 instructors for incorporating suitable elements in the course.
Dissemination, diffusion, impact and sharing of good practices
The project demonstrated the benefit of using technology and multimedia in teaching. Multimedia such as films could build an interactive classroom and foster student self-motivated learning. This approach would be specifically useful for similar courses which require reflection from student themselves.
