Effective Affect: using the Science of Happiness as a learning strategy for student success

Utah Valley UniversityOrem, UT

18 October 2014

Neon Dots

• Pink dot = 1 thing you are grateful for in your personal life

• Yellow dot = 1 thing you are grateful for about I-TESOL

• Orange dot = One person in this room that you are grateful for

• Green dot = Think of one positive experience from the last 24 hours

• Cognitive • Affective• Sociocultural• Metastrategies

Pop Quiz: What were the 4 types of learning strategies identified by Dr. Oxford yesterday?

• What is Affect/Why important?• How to implement “effective affect” in

classroom?• What/Why Happiness? Scientific benefits of

happiness• How to capitalize on/influence happiness

levels in order to help our students succeed.• Happiness plan

Overview

Good Luck or Bad Luck?

Affect• Definition: affect = students feelings; (based on their

interpretation of the experience)• “Affect goes way beyond concerns about how people learn and

remember language items. [it] relates to the whole learning experience. If students are not [relaxed and feeling positive and unthreatened], then their affective filter is raised and blocks the input from being absorbed and processed. But if…the affective filter is lowered…then comprehensible input the students are exposed to will contribute far more effectively to their acquisition of new language.” (Harmer, J. “The practice of English Language Teaching”, p. 58).

“The human brain is an emotional brain” –(Le Doux, 1996)

Impact of Negative Affect in the classroom

• “In the presence of overly negative emotions such as anxiety, fear, stress, anger or depression, our optimal learning potential may be compromised. The most innovative techniques and the most attractive materials may be rendered inadequate, if not useless, by negative affective reactions involved with the language learning process. Anxiety, for example, can wreak havoc with the neurological conditions in the prefrontal lobe of the brain, preventing memory from operating properly and thus greatly reducing learning capacity. Fortunately, language teachers are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of negative emotional factors and of ways to handle them” (Arnold and Brown, p. 2 ).

Affect• “Attention to affective aspects can lead to

more effective language learning” (Arnold and Brown 1999:2).

Good Examples• Best practices in lowering the affective filter:

What have you done?

• “How then can teachers ensure that their students feel positive about learning- that the affective filter is lowered?” (Harmer, J. “The practice of English Language Teaching”, p. 58).

How?

Affect

• Awareness Test

What do you see?

What do these have in common?

• Aristotle• The Declaration of Independence• “Despicable Me Two”/Pharrell Williams• Bobby McFerrin• The Amazon book list (70,801 titles)

Aristotle

• “Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.”

U.S. Declaration of Independence“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among

these are Life, liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” (July 4, 1776).

• Achor, S., “The Happiness Advantage,”(2010). • Lyubomirsky, S. “The How of

Happiness,”(2007).• The Science of Happiness course at

edx:Berkeley- Greater Good Foundation

Credit

• Happiness = “the experience of joy, contentment, or positive well-being, combined with a sense that one’s life is good, meaningful and worthwhile.”(Sonja Lyubomirsky, “The How of Happiness, ”)

What is Happiness?

Complete this sentence: “Happy People….”

What are the results of being happy? Happy people:• Live longer than average (39% more likely to live to age

94)- Achor HBR 2012• Have better health habits; • Have lower blood pressure• Have more robust immune systems• Are more productive on the job• Have higher incomes• Are able to tolerate more pain• Are more sociable and energetic• More charitable and cooperative• Are better liked by others• More likely to get and stay married• Show more flexibility and ingenuity in their thinking

(Achor 2012, Danner, 2001, Diener, 2002, Lyubomirsky, 2007)

Happiness = success

• “Happiness leads to success in dearly every domain, including work, health, friendship, sociability, and energy.” (Achor, Shawn, “The Happiness Advantage,” p. 21)

• Learning strategy for student success?

That’s great for Happy people, but what about the rest of us?

Circumstance

Who is Happier?

Lottery winner? Paraplegic

How much of happiness is:

• Circumstantial?• Genetic?• Under our control?

The Anatomy of Happiness

How does this relate to learning?

Positive brain= best performance

• “It turns out our brains are literally hardwired to perform at their best not when they are negative or even neutral, but when they are at positive”(Achor, Shawn, “The Happiness Advantage,” p. 15).

Happy = Smarter

• “When we are happy—when our mindset and mood are positive—we are smarter, more motivated, and thus more successful. Happiness is the center, and success revolves around it” (Achor, Shawn, “The Happiness Advantage,” p. 37).

6 Happiness Habits that will impact student success:

• Remember your S.M.I.L.E.S.: Share your gratitude (3/day) Remember the dots?

Meditation moment (5 minutes)Intentional acts of kindness (5 people/day)Look back (the doubler) green dot

Exercise (15 minutes/day)Social spending (prosocial activity)*These are scientifically based

SMILES Method

Sample:43 Students:9 M, 34 F

Ages 17-42Intermediate High

ResultsQualitative responses to the following questions:

1. Describe your experience with the happiness habits this week. What did you do, and how did it make you feel?

2. How has practicing the happiness habits affected you academically (educationally)

3. How has practicing the happiness habits affected your social life?

4. How has practicing the happiness habits affected your attitude about life in general?

“I'm felling a better person. One act of kindness leads to another act of kindness. I had good experiences with my husband, with my cat, my friends and with people whom I never spook before. I'm a new woman. Simple words and acts can make all the difference. I'm glade with this new experiences.”

Results: What students are saying about the SMILES method:

Anthares, Brazil

• “My brain feel happy and open for new things! =D”

“The truth, with happiness habits the culture shock is less.”

Rose, Haiti

• “It make me happy, I can learn better, and it make me try my best everyday.”

Alexa, China

• “I feel confident about my life.”

Vanessa, Chile

Cristian, Mexico

• “I think that these has helped me a lot because a can have more happiness in my live and I can be more focus on my studies :)”

Zaya, Mongolia

• “From this week, I have started to do my homework and other assignments more actively, felt motivate, and also improved my confident in speaking English.”

Developing your own happiness plan:

• Measure Happiness set point (Subjective Happiness Scale) http://sonjalyubomirsky.com/subjective-happiness-scale-shs/

• Regularly measure happiness levels (Oxford Happiness Questionnaire) http://www.marin.edu/~npsomas/Projects/OxfordHappinessQuestionnaire.pdf

• Variety of activities/ carried out in a variety of ways

• Be consistent

• How can the science of happiness be a learning strategy to assist you in helping your students find success?

“Therefore, what?”

Suggested Additional Resources:

• Michael Norton- “How to Buy Happiness” TED Talk

• Shawn Achor- “The Happiness Advantage” TED talk.

ReferencesAchor, S., “The Happiness Advantage,”(2010).Arnold, J and Brown, H.D. (1999) “Affect in Language

Learning,” p. 2 Danner, D.D., Snowdon, D.A. & Friesen, W.V. (2001).

“Positive emotions in early life and longevity: Findings from the Nun Study,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80:804-813.

Diener, Ed. And Seligman, Martin. (2002). “Very happy people,” Psychological Science, 13:81-84.

Harmer, J. “The practice of English Language Teaching”, p. 58.

Lyubomirsky, S. (2007). “The How of Happiness,” p. 25.

Thank You!

• Contact Information:

Carrie DrakeBrigham Young Universitycarrie_drake@byu.edu