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How does the block plan affect students' mental health?
How does the block plan affect students' mental health?
Current Student Perspectives
The Literature
Educational Psychology Themes
Future Outcomes and Suggestions
Current Student Perspectives
Q: How do you think being on the Block Plan affects mental health?
"The big thing is that you can't miss ONE day. So much material is covered every day that if you miss a day, you fall so far behind." (Transfer student, Class of 2025)
"My mental health drastically changes block to block, dependent on my circumstances. If I have a friend in a class, I am happy, but some blocks I am super lonely." (Student, Class of 2025)
"My personal routine is constantly disrupted. Everything is always changing and there is no consistency." (Student, Class of 2024)
"The block plan is good for acute mental health issues because you can always take a block off for treatment, personal breaks, burn out, and familial issues." (Student)
"It is easy to get bogged down on one class. If it is not going well, it is going to be a hard three and a half weeks." (Student, Class of 2023)
"I feel like the block plan is a scapegoat for people's poor mental health. Everyone in college is going through a hard time, it is a difficult transition period in life no matter what kind of course schedule you are on." (Student, Class of 2025)
"I think people taking STEM classes are way more stressed out. The block plan doesn't work for STEM because it is just cramming content. (Student, Class of 2024)
What Defines Mental Health and Wellbeing?
If we want to assess mental health and wellbeing, we must first ask the question of what defines these terms?
A major complaint about the Block Plan is that the intense nature of classes leads to burnout.
Langdon, J. L. (2020) characterizes burnout as: a reduced sense of accomplishment, emotional exhaustion, and depersonalization.
The four causes of burnout are 1) job demands, 2) job recourses, 3) personal characteristics, and 4) well-being indicators.
Well-being is "the combination of feeling good and functioning effectively" (Langdon, 2020). Well-being is dependent upon motivation and self-determination theory (Langdon, 2020).
Self-determination theory posits that in order for us to have moderate or high levels of motivation and well-being, one must first satisfy the three basic needs of Autonomy (feelings of being in control over your situation and decisions), Competence (feelings of being successful) and Relatedness (feelings of belonging) (Langdon, 2020).
Well-being was also strongly correlated to 'Psychological capital' and 'Social capital.' Psychological capital comprises four criteria: Hope (persevering towards goal in the face of adversity), efficacy (confidence to succeed in task), resilience (bouncing back when facing problems), and optimism (making a positive attribution about succeeding). Use the acronym HERO to recall (Bagi, 2022). The study also found that social capital (social and community resources) is equally crucial as psychological capital is to mental health and well-being.
= Self-determination + Motivation + Psychological Capital + Social Capital
Social Capital and Relationships
Social Emotional learning (SEL) plays a large role in wellbeing (Maughan, 2018).
SEL aims to create safe and nurturing school environments that foster students’ academic success and make students capable of understanding their and others’ emotions, managing impulses, and creating positive relationships and conflict resolution. SEL is about relationship building, having everyone in the community have their needs met, and balancing success in academics and personal life (Maugan, 2018).
SEL begins in K-12 Education, yet it stops once students reach college. Brains fully form at age 25. College students could still use SEL in their classes. The skills learned through SEL would provide guides for healthy and fulfilling relationships, building social capital, and self-regulation, which all contribute to students' overall mental health and well-being.
Educational Psychology Themes
Individual Wellbeing
Motivation = efficacy expectations x outcome expectations x value of the outcome (personal relevance/importance).
Self-Efficacy is the belief that an individual is capable of a task or goal. This belief affects 1) willingness to do tasks, 2) increased persistence in relevant tasks, and 3) improved ability to cope with stressful conditions (resilience).
Self-determination, inextricably tied to motivation, is an individual's sense of autonomy, competence, and relatedness.
It is natural and rational that people withdraw from non-self-determined goal pursuits. (STEM classes cram content into a period that does not allow for deep understanding and retention, which does not align with students' goals).
Teaching methods like Hands-on learning and Just-in-time telling facilitate student-centered constructions of knowledge, and students' autonomy. Piaget's Social Constructivism theory says that individuals construct knowledge through experience.
Social Capital/ Relationships
Humanism and Student-Centered pedagogies put individually motivated students at the center of their learning.
Sociocultural Theory states that learning happens in cultural contexts. (field trips, guest speakers, experiential learning). Utilizing this pedagogy promotes student well-being because they connect with their community and their identity about others.
Group work & 'Listening and Sharing' promotes accountability and responsibility—motivation, and consequently, well-being increases when students feel needed and responsible for others.
Block Plan supports mental health by :
Block Plan supports mental health by :
Promoting Autonomy/Self determination - Students can design their schedules and have the afternoons for activities of choice.
Promoting Social Capital - The schedule allows time for bonding and relationship building among students and between teachers and students. Experiential education, group work, and small and interactive classes are conducive to relationship building and SEL. There is constant communication between students and faculty.
Promoting Self-efficacy and Feelings of Competence - Students get a grade/reinforcing feedback every three and a half weeks. Students achieve greater success in their classes because they are able to focus on one subject at a time.
Relatively Normal Work Load- CC students have less coursework than other semester-program schools, showing that coursework in not a contributing cause to reduced mental health.
Block Plan does not support mental health by:
Block Plan does not support mental health by:
Teaching Stem on the Block Plan - The quantity of the work in the time allotted doesn't allow for student success nor feelings of "self-efficacy" and "autonomy" over their time.
Courses being fast-paced and product-based - External measures of success rather than fostering students' internal motivation (process-based, un-grading approaches.)
Facilitating short-term relationships- There is difficulty maintaining constant relationships because classmates are only together for three and half weeks.
Future outcomes and suggestions:
In order to better support students' mental health on the block plan, we suggest...
Have more mental health days because that aligns with humans' natural need to have downtime and enact the parasympathetic nervous system.
Give students support and structures for how to "lighten their load" and only commit to what they can handle.
Reimagine the STEM block plan to better support student success and wellbeing.
Make some classes double blocks for less cramming/more student success and motivation.
Keeping the Conversation Going: On going thoughts, concerns, questions...
Stay up to date on updates from Project 2024 (For questions about Project 2024 contact Lyrae Williams lwilliams@coloradocollege.edu).
Maintain an open line of communication between students and faculty about mental health. This line of communication can take the form of surveys that ask students about their wellbeing, specifically: Autonomy, Self-efficacy, Motivation, Psychological capital, and Social capital. This information can prompt guest speakers, assigning mentors, and providing wellness resources (worksheets, services, etc.)
References
Bagi, P. D., & Chand, S. (2022). Psychological Capital (PsyCap) and Mental Health among College Students. Indian Journal of Positive Psychology, 13(4), 432–435.
Biber, D. (2020). Social Emotional Learning for a College Classroom. College Teaching, 68(1), 49–52.
Langdon, J. L. (2020). Examining the Connections between the Work We Do and Our Mental sHealth: National Association for Kinesiology in Higher Education 29th Delphine Hanna Commemorative Lecture 2020. Quest (00336297), 72(2), 119–133.
MAUGHAN, S. (2018). The Power of Social and Emotional Learning. Publishers Weekly, 265(34), 26–34.
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