Browsing by Subject "tietoisuustaidot"

Objective of the study. The objective of the study was to research students learning experiences in mindfulness. I studied the experiences of students in the Faculty of Medicine about learning and the structuring of learning in the context of the mindfulness skills course. My perspective was intrapersonal and individual. There is little research data on the learning process of mindfulness because the mainstream of the study has concentrated on the clinical purposes of use and effects of mindfulness skills. I studied learning experiences using three questions: How do students describe conscious orientation of attention and selfaccepting perception (learning mindfulness)? How do students describe the effects / consequences of learning mindfulness for themselves? What meanings do students give to mindfulness learning? Methods. The research material was collected as part of the mindfulness and well-being course 2020. Participants in the Faculty of Medicine course practiced mindfulness skills during the course and returned learning diaries and a learning reports as part of the course. Among those who issued research permits, seven students (N = 7) were randomly selected in proportion to the population in the field of medicine and two students in psychology. The analysis of the learning diaries and the report was carried out with the help of theory-guided content analysis. The analysis identifies the impact of previous theoretical knowledge and research. Results and conclusions. Students described the objects, body, emotions, and thinking of directing attention on a general level. An accepting attitude towards self and practice was the most prominent attitude in the trainings of mindfulness skills although neutral, negative, judgmental, and ambivalent attitudes were seen. Students had very varied experiences of the effects and consequences of learning mindfulness. The effects were concrete changes in the operation or the control of the feelings and thinking. The effects of the learning process showed mindfulness as balancing experiences and a stress reliever. Insights and the development of self-confidence emerged, but anxiety and prejudice were also seen. Mindfulness was perceived as a meaningful stress management tool, a professional tool, an enabler of a conscious lifestyle and self-education. The progress of learning as a process was reflected in the results

The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of the Pieni Oppiva Mieli -intervention (MindUp™) in the day care centers children of 3 to 6 years of age on social competence as perceived by the staff and children's parents. In the study, social competence consisted of emotional symptoms, conduct problems, inattention, peer relationship problems, prosocial behavior and psychosocial wellbeing. The research questions are: 1. What is the children's social competence before and after the intervention? 2. How do the children differ on the basis of sex with respect to social competence before and after the intervention? 3. What are the differences in children's social competence before and after the intervention based on mother's or father's education? Previous studies have shown that mindfulness-based interventions on children have a positive effect on, for example self-regulation, emotional regulation, socio-cognitive skills, academic skills and social skills. There has been little research on the effects of socio-emotional programs on the young children's social competence, although various social skills training programs in early childhood are much in use. The study was part of the Pieni Oppiva Mieli -project at the University of Helsinki and was attended by 234 children from three different kindergartens in the metropolitan area. The study was conducted investigating the effects of a 30-week intervention on the day care group during the academic year 2016-2017. Strenghts and Difficulties form (SDQ-Fin) was used to investigate the difference between initial and final measurement, and it was combined with the information on the background information form, namely the gender of the child and the education of parents. The material was analyzed quantitatively by SPSS Statistics 24 -program using non-parametric tests as analyzing method; a Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test, a Mann–Whitney U test, and a Kruskal–Wallis test. I also used a parametric t-test (Independent Samples) alongside the Mann–Whitney U test. The results indicate that the intervention might have positive effects on child's inattention, peer problems, prosocial behaviour and psychosocial wellbeing. Based on the answers provided by the staff, the results also indicate that the sex may have an impact on the initial and final measurement of conduct problems, inattention, prosocial behavior and psychosocial wellbeing. Based on parent's responses, the results are parallel, but narrower. Results of the boys were worse than the girls in all the sub-variables of social competence except for the peer problems. The research results of staff and parents of children differed from the impact of maternal and father's education on the child's social competence and development.

Mindfulness is regarded as the cognitive ability of being aware of what is happening at the moment, without judging or trying to reach certain goals (e.g. Napoli, 2004). Mindfulness as a part of school teaching is discussed more and more, but there is still only little academic research on the topic (Burke, 2009). Mindfulness meditation practices have been proved to positively change brain function (Davidson et. al., 2003), and to increase mental well-being, learning and self-acceptance (Grossman et. al. 2004; Chiesa, Calati & Serretti, 2011; Carson & Langer, 2006). In addition, mindfulness as a part of teaching can help pupils to discard the mindless way of learning, which restricts learning and the perception of new information (Langer, 2000). A few pilot studies have been conducted in the United States (Napoli, Krech & Holley, 2008; Flook et. al., 2010), which gave the base for this study. The aim of this study was to run a pilot study on using mindfulness meditation practices in primary school teaching, and to find out the success and usability of the method according to the experiences of the pupils and the teacher. The research questions are: 1) How did the pupils experience the mindfulness meditation practices? 2) How did the teacher evaluate the experiment and the usability of the method in class? 3) What did the experiences of the pupils and the teacher, as well as observation, reveal on the success of the experiment and on the usability of the method at school? The data of the study was gathered in a sixth grade class in primary school. 17 of the 24 pupils in the class participated in the study. The pupils took part in mindfulness meditation practices twice a week for a month. After the practices they answered a short questionnaire, and after the last practice a longer questionnaire. The teacher answered to an e-mail interview in the beginning of the study and another one at the end. Additional data was gathered by observing in the classroom. The data was arranged by using the methods of content analysis, and analyzed by the methods of discourse analysis, using also some methods of narrative analysis. The practices regarded mostly as a positive, or at least a neutral experience. Both the pupils and the teacher used a discourse that referred to achieving in school world, on the other hand both of them also spoke of the practices as a way of relaxing and finding peace of mind at school. The pupils also reported they were experiencing something new and strange, and some of them expressed need of speaking out their feelings and thoughts. The teacher regarded the practices more as a way of getting in touch with one's inner self rather than as a way of activating attentiveness. She tended to avoid the practices in restless situations in class, even though in her opinion the method was useful and meaningful in general. The results reveal the need for mindfulness practices in schools for discarding the mindless approach to studying as something boring, which would open new possibilities for multi-dimensional learning. In addition, mindfulness practices may serve as a method in processing feelings. For best results, the teachers using the method should be given enough information on the versatility and the benefits of mindfulness meditation practices.

In Helsinki Medical school, half of the students experience lot of stress during their studies. Earlier inter-national research shows that university students wellbeing can be improved with practicing mindfulness skills, but in Finland there are fewer studies in this topic. Research on mindfulness trainings effects on different study programs, age-groups and genders are also missing. The aim of this study was to find out, if practicing mindfulness is linked to better wellbeing in university students in Helsinki Medical school. Other aim was to find out and there some effect concerning study program, gender, age, the amount of mindfulness training or earlier mindfulness background. The study was randomized controlled trial research with intervention- (N=52) and control group (N=35). Intervention group practiced mindfulness skills on different methods and control group had sup-port as usual from the university. The measures were gathered with online questionnaire in the in the baseline and at the end of the study (5-8weeks). T-test was used to analyze changes between baseline and finish measurements. Repeated ANOVA was used to measure intervention effect. The overall wellbeing in the intervention group did not change during the intervention. Whereas in control groups wellbeing decreased statistically significantly in almost every variable. It is possible, that mindfulness training helps to prevent increase of stress levels. There was seen decrease in subjective wellbeing in both groups, but in the intervention group the decrease was significantly less (p= 0.03, η2 =.053). The intervention effect size (η2) was small. In intervention group there was a significant differ-ence between medical and dentistry students and psychology and logopedics student’s subjective wellbe-ing (p=0.037, η2=.084). There was a moderate intervention effect (η2). Medical and dentistry students experienced more effect from the intervention. Due to small amount of the study subjects, results are di-rectional. The results support the earlier findings where mindfulness has effect on wellbeing. Methods based on mindfulness training should be studied more to find out cost effective and preventive ways to support medical student’s wellbeing. More research is also needed to find out the best methods for different genders, age groups and students from different study programs.