Background
University students and teachers, along with others around the globe, have been forced to transition abruptly to remote learning environments during the pandemic. While many reports of the devastating effects of this transition surface each day, we rarely hear success stories about how teachers and students are successfully creating and amplifying engaged learning that enhances flourishing. This APPLY session will focus on our experience adapting an action learning immersion course for undergraduate students to a remote learning environment. We will share how we used appreciative inquiry, engaged pedagogy, and the science of flourishing to re-imagine a thriving classroom that successfully fostered flourishing for our students and teaching team. In addition to success stories, we will share data that demonstrates our success, and practical ideas for re-imagining thriving classrooms.
Hypotheses/Research Questions
Is it possible to adapt an immersion-style action learning course focused on thriving into a remote format that supports engaged learning and fosters individual and team flourishing?
Sample Characteristics and Sample Size
This APPLY session reports on a sample of 50 undergraduate students who completed the Magnify action learning immersion program in 2020 using the remote learning strategies described in the session.
Design
We will report on a pre-post survey of the students (98% response rate). Survey uses validated measures of flourishing and resilience. We will also highlight themes from qualitative data gathered throughout the program to illustrate the pedagogical innovations we used to successfully adapt the program to remote learning.
Results
Students and teachers successfully adapted to teaching and learning in a remote environment. Students report greater flourishing and resilience after participating in this program, as measured in both survey and qualitative data.
Scientific Contribution
This session offers design implications for all institutions seeking to create flourishing in remote learning environments.