The end of the semester has arrived. Students have learned, via research and application, numerous aspects about Health Psychology and how the discipline interacts within psychology, biology, and their daily lives. Throughout the semester, students were giving a variety of learning tools (e.g. books, lectures, discussions, videos, speakers) and now will be able to apply what they have learned to their own health behaviors.
Students were required to pick a health related behavior that they wanted to change. Some examples included increased exercise, losing weight, or increased sleep. They key here was to be specific in exactly what the student needs to do to accomplish the change. If the end goal was to lose ten pounds, then the student was required to map out exactly how he or she will go about the plan to make the change. Specificity is key in planning a behavior change. Planning and tracking progress are also important.
The project was assigned at the beginning of the semester, and students were supposed to be working on their behavior change for the last couple of months. I think a good improvement for this project for next semester would be to have students say, out loud to the class, what their behavior change will be. This gives students a sense of commitment to their behavior change, and perhaps they would be more likely to stick to the behavior.
Additionally, I think Dr. Gurung should ask students how their change is coming along. This may keep them feeling accountable to their goal. I do not think it is counterintuitive to ask how they’re doing. Making mistakes helps people learn, and is usually expected in the process of most behavior changes. By talking about the person’s behavior change as well as possible mistakes that may be made could possibly help students perceive some upcoming barriers. There would also be a sense of camaraderie and perceived social support between students.
I wish I had realized this earlier in the semester. Before the start of class, I walked around and talked to the students, and asked them if they had any questions about what we are talking about in class, or if they needed further clarification on when assignments are due. Unfortunately, I never once asked how a student’s behavior change was coming along. I think that talking about the process and progress would have really helped keep students on track and would have also provided them with a sense of accountability to their health related behavior change.