International Journal of Modern Education and Computer Science (IJMECS)
IJMECS Vol. 8, No. 12, 8 Dec. 2016
Cover page and Table of Contents: PDF (size: 320KB)
Author(s)
Index Terms
Education, Cognitive skills, Mindfulness, Learning, Computing, Bloom‟s Taxonomy, Attention
Abstract
Despite the availability of numerous learning opportunities ranging from face-to-face to computer-based learning, there is need for better understanding of how to support the development of cognitive skills in students. Research has shown that cultivation of mindfulness skills help to develop cognitive skills such as retention, thinking, problem solving, and emotional balance. However, there is only limited research on the effect of mindfulness training in educational settings. We examined cognitive abilities of university students as identified in Bloom’s taxonomy and mindfulness skills during a single traditional face-to-face class room session. We hypothesized that mindfulness is a specific cognitive ability that supports the development of other cognitive skills. This pilot study included 148 students from undergraduate and postgraduate programs at two universities in Sri Lanka. The study assessed cognitive abilities, including retention, thinking, out-of-the-box thinking, note-taking and mindfulness at the end of a one-hour lecture. The results showed that students’ self-reported mindfulness following a lecture was significantly lower than other cognitive abilities. These results suggest conducting a more formal controlled experiment to investigate the effect of mindfulness training in education.
Cite This Paper
Asoka S Karunananda, Philippe R Goldin, P D Talagala, "Examining Mindfulness in Education", International Journal of Modern Education and Computer Science(IJMECS), Vol.8, No.12, pp.23-30, 2016. DOI:10.5815/ijmecs.2016.12.04
Reference
[1]J. M. G. Williams and J. Kabat-Zinn, Mindfulness: diverse perspectives on its meaning, origins and applications. London, England; New York: Routledge, 2013.
[2]J. Kabat-Zinn, Wherever you go there you are: Mindfulness meditation in everyday life. Hyperion, 1994.
[3]A. S. Lillard, “Mindfulness Practices in Education: Montessori’s Approach,” Mindfulness, vol. 2, no. 2, 2011.
[4]B. Mirabai, “Mindfulness in Higher Education,” Contemp. Buddhism, vol. 12, no. 1, 2011.
[5]M. W. Otto, M. H. Pollack, K. M. Maki, R. A. Gould, J. J. Worthington 3rd, J. W. Smoller, and J. F. Rosenbaum, “Childhood history of anxiety disorders among adults with social phobia: rates, correlates, and comparisons with patients with panic disorder,” Depress. Anxiety, vol. 14, no. 4, pp. 209–213, 2001.
[6]S. G. Hofmann, P. Grossman, and D. E. Hinton, “Loving-Kindness and Compassion Meditation: Potential for Psychological Interventions,” Clin. Psychol. Rev., vol. 31, no. 7, pp. 1126–1132, Nov. 2011.
[7]S. G. Hofmann, A. T. Sawyer, A. A. Witt, and D. Oh, “The Effect of Mindfulness-Based Therapy on Anxiety and Depression: A Meta-Analytic Review,” J. Consult. Clin. Psychol., vol. 78, no. 2, pp. 169–183, Apr. 2010.
[8]L. W. Anderson and B. S. Bloom, A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: a revision of Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives. New York: Longman, 2001.
[9]P. Davar, “Adoption of Innovative Education Strategies to the Needs of the Time: A Case Study of Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (APU),” Int. J. Mod. Educ. Comput. Sci., vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 1–13, Jan. 2013.
[10]C.-T. Chou, C. Chuang, and B. Zheng, “The Study of Blended Learning on a Vocational High School in Taiwan,” Int. J. Mod. Educ. Comput. Sci., vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 1–7, Apr. 2013.
[11]V. Nehra and A. Tyagi, “Free Open Source Software in Electronics Engineering Education: A Survey,” Int. J. Mod. Educ. Comput. Sci., vol. 6, no. 5, pp. 15–25, May 2014.
[12]B. Isong, “A Methodology for Teaching Computer Programming: first year students’ perspective,” Int. J. Mod. Educ. Comput. Sci., vol. 6, no. 9, pp. 15–21, Sep. 2014.
[13]M. Mitra and A. Das, “A Fuzzy Logic Approach to Assess Web Learner’s Joint Skills,” Int. J. Mod. Educ. Comput. Sci., vol. 7, no. 9, pp. 14–21, Sep. 2015.
[14]B. Kadda, and L. Ahmed, “Semantic Annotation of Pedagogic Documents,” Int. J. Mod. Educ. Comput. Sci., vol. 8, no. 6, pp. 13–19, Jun. 2016.
[15]F. MMT Marikar and N. Jayarathne, “Effectiveness of MOODLE in Education System in Sri Lankan University,” Int. J. Mod. Educ. Comput. Sci., vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 54–58, Feb. 2016.
[16]I. Lavy and A. Yadin, “Extending the SOLO Model for Software-Based Projects,” Int. J. Mod. Educ. Comput. Sci., vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 1–10, Mar. 2014.
[17]L. Waters, A. Barsky, A. Ridd, and K. Allen, “Contemplative Education: A Systematic, Evidence-Based Review of the effect of Meditation Interventions in Schools,” Educ. Psychol. Rev., Mar. 2014.
[18]P. C. Broderick and S. Metz, “Learning to BREATHE: A pilot trial of a mindfulness curriculum for adolescents,” Adv. Sch. Ment. Health Promot., vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 35–46, 2009.
[19]P. A. Poulin, C. S. Mackenzie, G. Soloway, and E. Karayolas, “Mindfulness training as an evidenced-based approach to reducing stress and promoting wellbeing among human services professionals,” Int. J. Health Promot. Educ., vol. 46, pp. 35–43, 2008.
[20]P. Ritvo et al., “Reductions in Negative Automatic Thoughts in Students Attending Mindfulness Tutorials Predicts Increased Life Satisfaction,” IJEP - Int. J. Educ. Psychol., vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 272–296, Oct. 2013.
[21]Geeta. N and R. Dasharath Gavas, “Enhanced Learning with Abacus and its Analysis Using BCI Technology,” Int. J. Mod. Educ. Comput. Sci., vol. 6, no. 9, pp. 22–27, Sep. 2014.
[22]M. Napoli, P. R. Krech, and L. C. Holley, “Mindfulness training for elementary school students: The Attention Academy,” J. Appl. Sch. Psychol., vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 99–125, 2005.
[23]J. Meiklejohn et al., “Integrating Mindfulness Training into K-12 Education: Fostering the Resilience of Teachers and Students,” Mindfulness, vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 291–307, Dec. 2012.
[24]P. A. Jennings and M. T. Greenberg, “The Prosocial Classroom: Teacher Social and Emotional Competence in Relation to Student and Classroom Outcomes,” Rev. Educ. Res., vol. 79, no. 1, pp. 491–525, Mar. 2009.
[25]K. A. Schonert-Reichl and M. S. Lawlor, “The Effects of a Mindfulness-Based Education Program on Pre- and Early Adolescents’ Well-Being and Social and Emotional Competence,” Mindfulness, vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 137–151, Sep. 2010.
[26]D. Eisenberg, S. E. Gollust, E. Golberstein, and J. L. Hefner, “Prevalence and correlates of depression, anxiety, and suicidality among university students,” Am. J. Orthopsychiatry, vol. 77, no. 4, pp. 534–42, 2007.
[27]M. D. Mrazek, M. S. Franklin, D. T. Phillips, B. Baird, and J. W. Schooler, “Mindfulness training improves working memory capacity and GRE performance while reducing mind wandering,” Psychol. Sci., vol. 24, no. 5, pp. 776–781, May 2013.
[28]K. L. Gratz and L. Roemer, “Multidimensional Assessment of Emotion Regulation and Dysregulation: Development, Factor Structure, and Initial Validation of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale,” J. Psychopathol. Behav. Assess., vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 41–54, Mar. 2004.
[29]A. Lutz, H. A. Slagter, N. B. Rawlings, A. D. Francis, L. L. Greischar, and R. J. Davidson, “Mental training enhances attentional stability: neural and behavioral evidence,” J. Neurosci. Off. J. Soc. Neurosci., vol. 29, no. 42, pp. 13418–13427, Oct. 2009.
[30]T. Nyanaponika, Heart of Buddhist meditation. Buddhist Publication Society, 2012.
[31]B. S. Bloom, Taxonomy of Educational Objectives Book 1: Cognitive Domain, 2nd editio. New York; New York; London: Addison Wesley Publishing Company, 1984.
[32]D. R. Krathwohl, B. S. Bloom, and B. B. Masia, Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, the Classification of Educational Goals. Handbook II: Affective Domain. New York: David McKay Company, 1973.
[33]E. J. Simpson, The Classification of Educational Objectives in the Psychomotor Domain. Washington, DC: Gryphon House, 1972.
[34]M. Pohl, Learning to Think, Thinking to Learn: Models and Strategies to Develop a Classroom Culture of Thinking. Cheltenham, Vic.: Hawker Brownlow., 2000.
[35]B. H. Gunaratana, Mindfulness in Plain English: Revised and Expanded Edition, Revised &. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 1996.
[36]J. Kabat-Zinn, “Mindfulness-Based Interventions in Context: Past, Present, and Future,” Clin. Psychol. Sci. Pract., vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 144–156, 2003.
[37]A. Brahmavamso, The Basic Method of Meditation. The Buddhist Society of Wester Australia, 1998.
[38]B. Nanamoli, The Path of Purification -Visuddhimagga. BPS, 2010.
[39]B. Bodhi, “What does mindfulness really mean? A canonical perspective,” Contemp. Buddhism, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 19–39, May 2011.
[40]M. Monier-Williams, A Sanskrit-English dictionary, etymologically and philologically arranged, with special reference to Greek, Latin, Gothic, German, Anglo-Saxon, and other cognate Indo-European languages. Oxford Clarendon Press, 1872.
[41]R. Gethin, “On some definition of mindfulness,” Contemp. Buddhism, vol. 12, no. 1, 2011.
[42]R. Gethin, “On some definition of mindfulness,” Contemp. Buddhism, vol. 12, no. 1, 2011.
[43]U. Jotika and U. Dhammindo, Maha Satipatthana Sutta. Migadavum Monasery, Burma, 1986.
[44]T. Nyanaponika, Heart of Buddhist meditation. Buddhist Publication Society, 2012.