Using a positive psychological framework, Broaden-and-Build Theory, we investigated whether and how positive and negative emotions (affective factors) and cognitive flexibility are related to flourishing. Participants are 151 bilingual adults from diverse backgrounds enrolled in a local community college. Results showed that both positive and…

Robust evidence links students' positive mental health with academic achievement and provides a compelling rationale for developing and refining strength-based assessments. The Social Emotional Health Survey--Secondary (SEHS-S) assesses adolescents' social and emotional skills and positive psychological dispositions. Previous studies provide…

This study seeks to understand how faith community involvement, specifically faith community harmony (sense of belonging and lack of conflict within one's faith community), and faith community interaction (participation in one's faith community) relates to life purpose, loneliness, and well-being among college students. Participants (n = 1253)…

Concern for the academic performance and persistence to graduation among university students is well-warranted. Numerous studies have tied performance to overall positive affect in professional settings and to individual internal concepts, indicating an expectation for similar ties in demanding academic settings. For students at increased risk for…

Despite the massive amounts of research conducted on the effect of college on students, almost no empirical work has been done on whether students grow in compassion during their undergraduate studies. Designed to address this gap, this longitudinal study of more than 500 students found that the majority demonstrated change in compassion across…

This research project included two studies that investigated (a) differences between technology use in tech-knowledgeable and less tech-knowledgeable older persons, (b) cognitive and affective variables and their association with the application of technology, and (c) the implications of these variables on the design of remote-delivered caregiver…

Undergraduate biology lab courses have long been criticized for engaging students in "cookbook" experiences in which students follow a given protocol to collect data that help answer a predetermined question. Recent reform documents in biology education have suggested that students should engage in lab courses that provide more authentic…

Every year 1.3 million U.S. high school students drop out of school with one quarter of female students failing to graduate on time. Female dropouts are more likely to be unemployed, to earn less when they are employed, to become pregnant before the age of 20, to become obese, to smoke, and to drink more heavily than their male counterparts. This…

The self-directed learning (SDL) in all of its characteristics measured in students and in various learning contexts continues to have a very important role in educational research and requires new explorations. Contemporary research indicates that there is a direct positive relationship between the level of student self-directed learning…