Collaborative Research: Mindfulness Training to Mitigate Psychological Threat and Enhance Engagement and Learning in Undergraduate Introductory Physics

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This project aims to serve the national interest by developing and testing a novel theoretical framework to understand and mitigate sources of disengagement and promote sources of engagement in undergraduate introductory physics courses. A premise of this project is that students under psychological threat—those who appraise demands of physics as exceeding coping resources—are more likely to disengage from physics. Critically, reducing psychological threat is suggested to boost engagement, and ultimately, learning and retention. The focus is on mindfulness as a tool to help students reappraise physics stressors, so that demands posed by learning physics can be perceived as temporary challenges to be overcome rather than permanent threats to be avoided.This project tests a model of psychological threat in relation to physics engagement and learning that integrates three separate research literatures on: 1) motivation (social and educational psychology), 2) mindfulness and stress (health and clinical science), and 3) learning (cognitive psychology and disciplinary-based physics education). In a series of randomized field experiments with undergraduates, this project tests the hypothesis that mindfulness training can help students make more adaptive stress appraisals, thereby mitigating psychological threat and boosting engagement. This project also explores whether adaptive stress appraisals and increased engagement cumulate to longer-term gains in learning and retention outcomes. Through the use of multimethod assessments (ecological momentary assessment, performance measures, self-report surveys, interviews, objective course records), the proposed studies will provide critical data necessary to rigorously test mechanisms connecting mindfulness to stress appraisals, engagement, and physics learning more broadly. Findings from this research will provide valuable insights into the relations between mindfulness, psychological threat, and engagement and learning. This project is supported by the EHR Core Research (ECR) program, which supports work that advances fundamental research on STEM learning and learning environments, broadening participation in STEM, and STEM workforce development.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.