Risk and Reward: Augmenting Teaching Practices to Support Student Wellbeing

The link between student wellbeing and resiliency, academic tenacity, and overall student success is strongly supported in the literature. Research also clearly demonstrates that classroom environment and instructor approaches positively impact student wellbeing, enjoyment and course engagement. The academic environment is a key factor contributing to the challenged state of student wellbeing and as we flipped to virtual learning, student wellbeing has been further threatened. Student wellbeing is highlighted in the UBC Strategic plan and further demonstrated by our commitment to the Okanagan Charter to embed wellbeing into all aspects of campus culture.

The TEACHERS Project was a research initiative developed to facilitate implementation of simple, efficient and effective wellbeing strategies into a variety of classrooms from engineering and psychology and health sciences to chemistry and others. We are excited to share our “best practices,” insights and reflections and engage in discussions about what might work best to embed wellbeing practices for your students in your courses. The goal is to augment teaching practices to address wellbeing in some way; not about having to do more. The risks are minimal and the rewards are high, for both you and your students. Join us to hear about our research, gain an appreciation for the importance of widespread integration of wellbeing practices in the classroom to benefit student learning and wellbeing, and learn about evidence-based wellbeing practices you can integrate into your classes, no matter what the program, discipline, or class size.