The spread of COVID-19 has had a psychological impact on people around the world. This paper attempts to combine some research results and practices of positive psychology and positive education to advocate positive online education, and through the positive improvement of online education, help adjust the mental health of online learners in the post-epidemic period, and help them continuously discover their inherent strengths and enhance their self-confidence.
I. Introduction
The COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on people's mental health, and this situation has affected the mental health of some learners to some extent.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey, more than 40% of the 5,470 respondents surveyed in the United States in June 2020 had adverse psychological or behavioral health problems, including: 30.9% of symptoms of anxiety or depression, 26.3% of symptoms of trauma- and stress-related disorders related to the epidemic, and even 10.7% of respondents had considered suicide in the 30 days before the survey. A survey published in the April 2021 CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report showed that the situation became even more severe: between August 2020 and February 2021, the proportion of adults experiencing symptoms of anxiety or depression increased from 36.4% to 41.5%, with the largest increase among young people aged 18-29. Between January 20, 2021 and February 1, 2021, more than two-fifths of adults over the age of 18 in the United States developed symptoms of anxiety or depression in the past 7 days. A quarter of adults who experienced these symptoms reported that they needed but did not receive mental health counseling or treatment.
During the epidemic, online learning, as an important and indispensable means of learning, has increased the convenience of learning and has been widely accepted by learners. Do the obstacles learners encounter in transitioning to online learning increase their psychological anxiety? Over time, people are desperate to return to normal life and study. Whether the mental health of online learners can be continuously enhanced and participated in through positive changes within online education is the focus of this article.
Second, the concept and practice of positive psychology and positive education
Positive psychology is born out of humanistic psychology. In 1954, Abraham Maslow, one of the founders of humanistic psychology, said, "The psychology of studying healthy people can be called positive psychology compared to the current psychology of negative psychology, which studies patients or ordinary people." "The main research questions of positive psychology include: positive subjective experiences of people (happiness, pleasure, gratitude, achievement), positive personal traits of people (personality strength, talent, interests, values), and concern for positive institutions (family, school, etc.). Positive psychology has always been oriented to the actual psychological needs of the public at the beginning of its production, believing that human "happiness" includes five measurable elements: (1) positive emotions (2) participation,(3) interpersonal relationships,(4) meaning," and (5) achievement. Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar of Harvard University said in the course "Positive Psychology" that Martin Seligman, known as the "father of positive psychology", established two goals for the development of positive psychology during his presidency of the American Psychological Association: (1) to make college psychology popular and accessible to the public. (2) Introduce a positive psychology, which should be effective and able to cope with psychological problems such as depression and anxiety.
Positive education is the application of positive psychology-related fields in educational settings with a focus on promoting the well-being and personality development of students and teachers through the teaching and practice of specific methods in the learning ecosystem. Empirical studies on the implementation of positive education have shown that active education can effectively reduce the incidence of depression and anxiety in students, and can effectively improve students' self-esteem, self-confidence and optimism. Positive psychology and positive education deserve to play a more important role during the pandemic.
Third, the analysis of the psychological impact of the epidemic on learners
(1) The impact of the epidemic on the mental health of learners
Modern psychology believes that anxiety is a typical negative emotion that will significantly affect a person's thoughts and behaviors and present various physical symptoms. The pandemic has disrupted the lives and study plans of some young people, increasing their anxiety.
A survey of students from nine public research universities in the United States during the pandemic conducted by the Center for Higher Education Research at the University of California, Berkeley, showed that the proportion of students in the United States who suffered from anxiety and depression increased during the spread of the new crown pneumonia epidemic. The survey of more than 30,000 undergraduates and more than 15,000 graduate students showed that approximately 40.3 percent of undergraduate respondents (n=8,464) reported emotional or mental health problems, and 24.6 percent of graduate and professional students (n=3,125) reported emotional or mental health problems or conditions (Horgoset al., 2020). Compared with previous years, the spread of the epidemic has led to a significant increase in mental health disorders among students, for example, the prevalence of major depressive disorder in graduate students in 2020 is twice that of 2019, and the prevalence of generalized anxiety disorder is 1.5 times that of 2019. The survey also showed widespread maladaptation for both undergraduate and graduate students after switching to online learning, with figures (1) and (2) showing that more than half of undergraduate and graduate students who could not adapt to distance learning were positive for generalized anxiety and major depressive disorder screening (Chirikovet al., 2020). The process of online learning, including "lack of motivation to learn", "lack of technology needed for online learning", "lack of online learning space", "inability to attend scheduled online meetings" in a timely manner, etc., has exacerbated widespread anxiety symptoms and depressive symptoms among learners (Soriaet al., 2020).
Figure 1: Relationship between U.S. undergraduate adaptation to distance learning and generalized anxiety disorder & major depressive disorder
Figure 2: Relationship between U.S. graduate students' adaptation to distance learning conditions and generalized anxiety disorders & major depressive disorders
(II) Learners face the "crisis of meaning" of learning
In the field of positive psychology research, the "crisis of meaning" is seen as: thinking life is frustrating. The "meaning crisis", as a powerful predictor of positive and negative happiness, lacks life goals or learning goals, and can trigger anxiety and depression. In online teaching, in teaching tutoring and homework correction, learners copy other people's homework and copy online content to piece together answers.
Some online learners may face a "lack of meaning" in learning. In the face of such a phenomenon, online education that advocates educational fairness should take responsibility and make a difference.
(iii) Learners receive limited psychological help
A survey conducted by your charity (YourMinds) shows that the global spread of COVID-19 is having an impact on some young people. Professionals working in the field of young people's mental health are assisting as much as possible in this regard. For example, they advise young people to be safe, stay connected, focus on things that make you feel good, take a short break from information, share your feelings, stay active, maintain a routine, find ways to relax and divert your attention. Psychological support should be increased for learners who experience higher levels of stress, anxiety, and depression. Since young people are more receptive to smartphone apps, it is suggested that health departments could consider providing online or smartphone-based psychoeducation and psychological interventions (e.g., cognitive behavioural therapy).
Figure 3: Young people in the UK feel that these activities are helping their mental health during the pandemic
According to a survey by a UK charity during the pandemic (Figure 3), young people believe that activities such as "video communication with friends face to face" and "watching movies and TV shows" can greatly ease their nervousness, and other activities related to learning include "learning new skills" (59%) and "reading books" (55%). Many of the activities may seem less demanding and are actually not very effective for young online learners.
Figure 4: Students in the United States (who encounter barriers to online learning) present with generalized anxiety symptoms
Figure 5: Students in the United States (who experienced barriers to online learning during the pandemic) present with major depressive symptoms
A survey conducted by the University of California, Berkeley (Figures 4 & 5) showed that learners who encountered difficulties in transitioning to online learning were more likely to present with generalized anxiety symptoms and major depressive symptoms than other learners of the same age (Soriaet al., 2020). Because of the increasing psychological pressure of learners, the shortcomings of online education that could have been "endured" have become more and more difficult to be accepted by learners. Researchers have found that the emotional changes that online learners show when learning a course directly affect their learning attitude towards the course and the final learning outcome. Combined with specific sentiment analysis methods, some foreign researchers have evaluated the learner's emotions and carried out targeted interventions by capturing the reflective texts or discussion texts formed in the learner's online learning, but the relevant research is still mainly at the level of teaching tracking and evaluation.
Active education or adjustability of learners' mental health
(1) Identify whether the learner needs psychological support
Bonny Barr of Crieton University in the United States has done research on how to identify and address the mental health needs of online learners in higher education to help teachers identify the mental health needs of online learners, Figure (6) is what he summarized based on some of the research results of his predecessors, and at present, it still has certain reference value (Barr, 2014). (Down 12th edition)
Figure 6: Warning signs for online learners facing emotional distress
Bonny Barr's research was in 2014, and this article has made some modifications in its citations and translations to facilitate understanding. The warning signal summarized in Figure (6) is intended to remind online education teachers to be able to understand that some online learners may encounter negative emotions, so as to take some positive and effective methods to prevent the situation from deteriorating, and to provide help in a timely manner when learners need help. For example, there is a clear difference between "suddenly starting to turn in homework late" and "continuing to show anxiety about homework." Psychologists argue that there is a clear difference between "laziness" and "impossible tasks," which are more like something "you want to do, but simply can't get up and do it." Mental health and wellness resources should be developed for teachers and students, campus care policies related to mental distress and illness should be developed, and teachers should be trained to deal with students' mental health issues, which can improve the success rate of online students.
(2) Active communication and support services
Figures (4) and 5 show that learners who encounter barriers in the transition to online learning are more likely to be screened for anxiety symptoms. (1) Lack of clear expectations of instructors for online learning; (2) lack of guidance on learning; (3) lack of learning support services; (4) inability to contact instructors, all of which have become key factors in triggering or exacerbating anxiety among some online learners.
Positive psychology has four ways of responding to (important) other people's communication: (1) active/constructive; (2) active/destructive; (3) passive/constructive; (4) passive/destructive (Figure 7) (Rashid & Seligman, 2021: 287).
Figure 7: Four ways of responding to (important) others to communicate/share
For some learners who already have anxiety symptoms, "inappropriate learning spaces, technical barriers to online learning" will also exacerbate the problem. In this regard, the aforementioned researchers organized by the University of California in the United States suggested that the deadline for online learning or the test time should be extended appropriately, and teachers should also evaluate the potential impact of students' classroom participation, sense of achievement and overall well-being at any time. One of the most important points is this: recognizing that learners' "decline in engagement or fulfillment" may be related to students' mental health, teachers should show enough compassion for students who develop symptoms of anxiety.
Positive psychology suggests that as a responder to communication, think more about your strengths, use your creativity, and explore how to use your strengths in the proactive and constructive responses you provide. Also, be good at using body language and facial expressions. Accepting students' mental state without prejudice helps encourage them to have a conversation about the issue. For example, comments like "It looks like you're having trouble" or "I feel like you're a little nervous" are a sign of concern rather than confrontation. It is believed that through active, timely, active and constructive communication in online educational institutions, exchanging views with learners in a timely manner, encouraging them to express their opinions on learning arrangements, telling online learners about the schedule of corresponding courses, support services and other arrangements, such as: increasing the number of hotlines, increasing the training of hotline service personnel in psychological support, and increasing the psychological support personnel of video telephony, it will certainly help learners to prepare psychologically for future online learning.
(3) Build positive relationships between students and between teachers and students
Positive psychology believes that both time and quality of time spent with others are important, and that positive interactions with others can buffer many psychological problems, especially depression. When our positive interactions with others are expressed, we remain healthy. Evidence suggests that safe relationships are strongly associated with health indicators.
Figure (3) shows that the "video of face-to-face with a friend" is helpful for young people experiencing mental health problems. According to the survey results of more than 30,000 U.S. undergraduates who transferred to online learning during the pandemic, in addition to the obstacles of "inability to learn effectively online", "lack of clear expectations for teachers' online learning", "inability to attend classes at scheduled online meeting times", and "inability to obtain the technology needed for online learning", the prominent problems that cause psychological problems among online learners are (online learning) "lack of interaction/communication with other students" and "lack of motivation to learn online". Among U.S. undergraduates (mentally disturbed) in the process of moving from traditional learning to online learning, 82 percent (n=6958) "lack motivation to learn online," 70 percent (n=5961) of learners believe that online learning "lacks interaction/communication with other students," and 68 percent (n=5721) of learners believe that "there is a lack of suitable learning space or a distracting home environment," which clearly exacerbates their negative emotions. Among the graduate students who participated in the survey who transitioned to online learning, 68% (n=2121) and "lack of interaction/communication with other students" and 62% (n=1923) also ranked in the top two of the data (Horgosetal., 2020).
The online learning platform should not only be a "curriculum resource platform", but also provide learner diaries, notepads, self-evaluation and other functions. For example, the theory of positive psychology holds that paying attention to and documenting positive and beautiful things can significantly improve people's emotions. In addition, the online learning platform should also fully meet the normal learning and communication functions between learners and between learners and teachers. At present, "cooperative learning technology" is constantly unfolding in some online learning environments, and some online learning researchers have found that cooperative learners have higher motivation and can obtain higher learning efficiency compared with traditional online learners. The communication between teachers and students on many online learning platforms actually needs to be completed with the help of external social software. In many cases, the communication content between teachers and students and learners is pure learning content, and the discussion content itself has retained value, and it is obviously not appropriate to rely on external social platforms. For example, when teachers guide undergraduate students' graduation papers online, students need to submit at least the opening report, the first draft of the thesis, and the final draft of the thesis on the learning platform, but the teacher-student communication during the entire thesis writing period often requires the creation of another learner group on the external social software (to publish public notices, etc.), and each undergraduate student is added as a "friend" to facilitate individual communication. Usually, the relevant communication of essay writing is mainly concentrated in the above three time periods. During this time, teachers and students had to switch back and forth between learning platforms and external social software. After the end of the thesis guidance, if you need to query or keep relevant learning records or guidance records, the various drawbacks of external social software are more prominent, which are urgent problems to be solved.
(4) The meaning and purpose of life
"Meaning in life" refers to a coherent understanding of the world that promotes the pursuit of long-term life goals, thereby providing a sense of purpose and accomplishment. The lack of life goals is partly responsible for the dramatic increase in the incidence of depression. There are also psychologists who believe that depressed people do not lack a valuable goal, but are more pessimistic about their likelihood, controllability and reasons for successfully achieving that goal. Apparently, people with symptoms of anxiety and depression face varying degrees of "meaning crisis." Positive psychology believes that living a life with meaning in life is great for people's mental health. Positive psychology offers some proven psychologically assisted therapies for people who are suffering from a "crisis of meaning."
(1) Active introduction and sharing: Introduce yourself through a true story. Positive psychology believes that for a person who is suffering from a "meaning crisis," by fully recalling a meaningful experience (an important, fruitful event or experience) and forming a story to share with others, "he" has the opportunity to reconstruct, evaluate, and enrich important parts of himself, and draw personal strengths from it. Positive psychology believes that the mental stress encountered by individuals and the individual's character advantages are part of daily life, and positive psychology focuses on integrating the individual's character advantages into their lives, hoping to transform the abstract concept of character advantages into concrete behaviors. Positive psychology lists 24 character strengths of individuals and divides them into 6 categories: wisdom and knowledge, courage, kindness, justice, moderation, and transcendence. Among them, the "wisdom and knowledge" related to learning are divided into: "creativity, curiosity, openness, eagerness to learn, insight". Obviously, this positive recollection plays an important role in psychological adjustment. In the process of online learning, due to the barrier of time and space, there is a clear psychological gap between learners, and this "positive introduction" can not only narrow the psychological distance between each other, but also allow learners to continuously discover their unique character advantages and enhance self-confidence and self-esteem. Teachers can fully participate and share their own stories first.
(2) Post-traumatic growth: "Post-traumatic growth" is a beneficial and lasting response to harsh experiences. Brief content of PTG research includes: embracing pain, not rejecting it; interacting continuously with people who can support us; and creating a narrative that makes life meaningful. PTG is a positive psychological change that a person presents after encountering psychological challenges, which is exactly the opposite of "post-traumatic stress disorder" (PTSD). Positive psychologists propose to reconstruct the meaning of life through a form of expressive writing called "writing therapy" to alleviate the feelings of loss and helplessness caused by trauma. Positive psychology has found that after describing individual experiences of grief and pain through expressive writing (recorded in secrecy), (individuals tend to) exhibit enhanced immune function, report less pain, and achieve higher grades. Surveys in the U.S. during the pandemic show that students in the humanities, arts, communications and design fields in the country experience more mental health problems than in other majors. Teachers and learners of these professions do not lack the ability to express themselves, and it is possible to refer to this kind of "expressive writing". For example, positive psychology also believes that the "creative expression" represented by the "creativity" in the individual character advantage, including artistic creation, writing, performance, etc., can fully mobilize the attention, cognitive ability and emotional resources of the learner, and has a huge psychological adjustment ability.
(3) Positive interpersonal relationships: The meaning of life often exists in interpersonal relationships, and satisfactory interpersonal relationships will increase people's happiness. Happiness leads to more success, as pleasurable emotional experiences lead to higher levels of creativity, higher motivation, better relationships, and a stronger immune system. Research during the pandemic has amply demonstrated the importance of positive relationships in maintaining the mental health of online learners. Good interpersonal relationships, especially teacher-student relationships, are also key factors that affect learners' motivation to learn and improve their self-esteem. As mentioned earlier, online education can help online learners build a positive interpersonal relationship by building positive communication and positive relationships with the help of current multiple technical means and flexible instructional design.
In the future, people will be able to truly realize the ultimate social dream of feeling "with another person" online through innovative technology, and be able to get a variety of immersive feelings in the virtual world. Online learning will also enable more positive and close-knit relationships in the digital world of the future.
5. Conclusion
Active online education is a tentative application of some research results in positive psychology and positive education in the field of online education.
Teachers should show enough patience and compassion for learners who develop anxiety symptoms, refer to some practices of positive psychologists, and make an active effort to participate in adjusting the mental health of learners.
Bin Han, School of Humanities and Education, Beijing Open University
About author:Bin Han (1973-), male, Beijinger, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Beijing Open University, main research direction: online education.