Although campus health has traditionally been the responsibility of student services, recent literature and public health models suggest that diverse players across the institution can play a role in creating healthy campus communities in higher education (American College Health Association, 2014; Keeling, 2014; Tsouros, Dowding, Thompson & Dooris, 1998; Washburn, Teo, Knodel, & Morris, 2013). There is growing interest in in creating conditions for well-being in higher education, with particular attention to the learning environment. This session will present the results of original research exploring the links between learning environments and student well-being at a comprehensive, Canadian institution. Over 1000 student responses were collected through a participatory action research study involving 14 faculty members. The session will present the rationale for the Well-being in Learning Environments project, the process of working collaboratively with campus partners and the results, both in terms the original research conducted and resources created. The Well-being in Learning Environments project, a partnership between the Teaching and Learning Centre and Health Promotion, has garnered national and international attention and was recognized with an Innovation Award from the Canadian Association of College and University Student Services in June 2014. Participants will have an increased understanding of the links between learning environments and student well-being and how learning environments can be shaped to contribute to student well-being. In addition, participants will discuss how the research findings can be used as a catalyst for collaboration at their institution, to create conditions for well-being in learning environments.
References:
American College Health Association (2014). Healthy Campus 2020 Objectives. Retrieved from http://www.acha.org/HealthyCampus/objectives.cfm
Keeling, R. (2014). An Ethic of Care in Higher Education: Well-being and Learning. Journal of College and Character, 15(3), 141-148.
Tsouros, A., Dowding, G., Thompson, J. & Dooris, M. (1998). Health Promoting Universities: Concept, Experience and Framework for Action. World Health Organization: Geneva.
Washburn, C., Teo, S., Knoedel, R., & Morris, J. (2013). Post-Secondary Student Mental Health: A Guide to a Systemic Approach. Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) and the Canadian Association of Colleges and University Student Services (CACUSS).
