Evaluating the effects of an Online Science of Happiness course on student mental wellbeing
Lead Researcher - Bruce Hood
Even before the pandemic, concern was growing about the rise in mental wellbeing problems among students. The COVID-19 crisis is likely to have exacerbated these problems, with the associated anxieties and hardships created by a pandemic, and as a result, students now face an entirely different and untested form of higher education created by social distancing.
The Science of Happiness (SoH) course run by the University of Bristol has been shown to increase student mental wellbeing when it was delivered as a large live lecture series with associated small group weekly meetings in the 2019/20 academic year.
COVID-19 means that this course must now be delivered online for the foreseeable future, so we want to evaluate if it continues to be effective in the 2020/21 academic year.
Aims
We aim to measure the impact of the OSoH course on student mental wellbeing.
Previously the SoH course combined live lectures on the theory of human wellbeing and practices of positive psychology. Course credit also depended on student engagement in weekly meetings with mentors (happiness hubs) and regular homework exercises often conducted in groups. Based on student and mentor feedback, we believe that much of the benefit conferred by the course came from these regular face-to-face meetings.
We want to know whether the OSoH can produce the same benefits when social distancing prevents large lectures and social interactions. We aim to evaluate:
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beneficial effects on mental wellbeing in students taking the course
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benefits comparable to the normal face-to-face SoH course
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cross-over benefits to other areas of academic performance such as exam compliance
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what components of the course are required for beneficial effects to be seen
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whether benefits are related to particular student characteristics or behaviours.
Anticipated impacts
Our evaluation will determine whether:
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the previously observed wellbeing benefits for SoH are found in the online version
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any benefits observed are sustained after the course finishes
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there is any evidence of impact on exam attendance
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particular groups of students benefit from the OSoH course.
Positive outcomes in any of the above would make a strong case for expanding and broadening the reach of the programme.