Appendix 2 Understanding Happiness: Feedback from Converge students We ran our first Happiness’ Course this year. The course was led by a ‘Understanding postgraduate psychology student and aimed to discuss the theories related to happiness. The following is student feedback: Participant responses at the end of the Happiness’ course. ‘Understanding Q What have you found interesting / helpful? Working in groups. Interacting with one another Working in groups. Making new friends Getting away from the be positive’ rhetoric. Setting and ‘must ‘appropriate achievable’ goals instead of shooting for the stars Discussing what makes us happy more of this (I think people enjoyed that - I did) – There can be a side to negativity ‘positive’ Ideas from others’ perspectives Debating, discussion. Accepting others discussions & points Criticism of thinking’ ‘positive The ideas to feel better, eg running, creativity, music, writing etc Comparing different theories of happiness and seeing how different they can be. Eastern vs Western What was interesting was the people talking about their feelings Helping us to understand is very useful. 70% of arguments come from misunderstanding The importance of out with friends. Listen to others but don’t judge Shared activities and the importance of listening’ to others what do people ‘really – really mean Appreciation of self and others giving a sense of identity – Finding / remembering ways to experience awe watching music, – Q What have you disagreed with or found unhelpful? I disagree with the idea that it’s best not to strive for happiness. I think it’s very important and lots of effort needed for a deeper happiness What was unhelpful for me was talking about what people had said when they are people from a long time ago Why!! Q What would be good to include if the course ran again? Maybe a dedicated session on mindfulness early on a lot of what was discussed – related to mindfulness
Appendix 2 Understanding Happiness: Feedback from Converge students We ran our first ‘Understanding Happiness’ Course this year. The course was led by a postgraduate psychology student and aimed to discuss the theories related to happiness. The following is student feedback: Participant responses at the end of the ‘Understanding Happiness’ course. Q What have you found interesting / helpful? Working in groups. Interacting with one another Working in groups. Making new friends Getting away from the ‘must be positive’ rhetoric. Setting ‘appropriate and achievable’ goals instead of shooting for the stars Discussing what makes us happy – more of this (I think people enjoyed that - I did) There can be a ‘positive’ side to negativity Ideas from others’ perspectives Debating, discussion. Accepting others discussions & points Criticism of ‘positive thinking’ The ideas to feel better, eg running, creativity, music, writing etc Comparing different theories of happiness and seeing how different they can be. Eastern vs Western What was interesting was the people talking about their feelings Helping us to understand is very useful. 70% of arguments come from misunderstanding The importance of out with friends. Listen to others but don’t judge Shared activities and the importance of ‘really listening’ to others – what do people really mean Appreciation of self and others – giving a sense of identity Finding / remembering ways to experience awe – watching music, Q What have you disagreed with or found unhelpful? I disagree with the idea that it’s best not to strive for happiness. I think it’s very important and lots of effort needed for a deeper happiness What was unhelpful for me was talking about what people had said when they are people from a long time ago Why!! Q What would be good to include if the course ran again? Maybe a dedicated session on mindfulness early on – a lot of what was discussed related to mindfulness
Outcomes-and-Evidence-Report-2015-2016-Final.docx