Overall, our team have collected 4 separate data sets for the entire project:
- The 2015 Survey (n=5591 quantitative and ~2000 qualitative responses)
- 7 focus groups with a total of 29 students
- 16 semi-structured interviews
- The 2016 Survey (n=5548 quantitative and ~873 qualitative responses)
That was a lot of data to analyze and interpret! However, thanks to our hard-working team and student volunteers, we were able to do so and 3 main ideas emerged. We found that student wellbeing is supported when students…
1. Experience human connections
Research shows that social connection, belonging, and human connections support wellbeing. It is not surprising that students have indicated that their wellbeing are supported when they feel connected to their instructors and their peers.
2. Are learning effectively
Students are (usually) at the university to learn. Their wellbeing is supported when they are motivated to learn and when they feel that they are learning effectively.
3. Are supported as a whole student
Students learn in the context of their lives. Student wellbeing is supported when their instructors recognize that they have lives outside academics, openly discuss mental health and wellbeing, and create a safe classroom environment.
Over the coming weeks we will be exploring each of these ideas in more depth, so stay tuned!