2 research outputs found
Stress in college life: Toward an understanding of test-anxiety, academic performance, and brief mindfulness meditation
No full text15–40% of college students experience test-anxiety (Hill & Wigfield, 1984), a distressing emotional state characterized by cognitive, behavioural, and physiological responses elicited by a testing situation (Zeidner, 1998). Previous work suggests that high test-anxiety can impair test performance and academic achievement (e.g., Cizek & Burg, 2006). State-level test-anxiety can not only impair the cognitive processes required to perform well on tests (e.g., attention; Spielberger, et al.,1 978), but can produce mind-wandering (Zeidan, et al., 2010) which can result in learning and memory impairments (Mrazek et al., 2013), poor test performance, and hampered academic achievement (Ng, Koh and Chia, 2003). Mindfulness-based interventions have gained popularity as suitable stress management options in campus settings. MM programs have typically ranged between eight to ten weeks (MBSR; Kabat-Zinn, 1982), though recent research has examined briefer formats. Mindfulness meditation (MM) refers to the cultivation of nonjudgmental, moment-to-moment awareness. Previous work suggests that brief MM can reduce test-anxiety (e.g., Cho, Ryu, Noh, & Lee, 2016), improve cognitive functioning (e.g., Zeidan et al., 2010), and enhance academic performance by enhancing working memory, inhibiting task irrelevant thoughts, and promoting attentional stability and self-regulation (e.g., Calma-Birling & Gurung, 2017; Moore & Malinowski, 2009). Hypotheses: State-anxiety levels will be lower in the brief mindfulness meditation group than the control group. Those who engage in brief MM will score higher on an academic performance test than those in the control group. Results: As expected, an independent-samples t-test using difference scores indicated that the MM group (M=-14.41, SD= 12.95) had greater anxiety reduction than the control group (M=-2.45, SD=12.49), t (46) = -3.35, p = .002, d=0.94), such that state-anxiety levels were significantly lower in the MM group. Differences in academic performance scores for the brief MM and control group were not significant, t(45) =-.617, p = .540, d=0.22, with means (SD) of 11.13 (3.10) and 11.70 (3.30), respectively. A series of two-way ANOVA’s revealed that gender and prior meditation experience had no effect on anxiety reduction in the MM group.Not peer reviewedStudent Research Day Poster (2019
Destination Mason: Engaging International Students at George Mason University
No full textThis proposal is for a poster on an initiative at INTO Mason called âDestination Mason,â which encourages INTO Mason students to get involved on campus. The pilot combines university events with required classroom assignments. Students attend six campus events in Arts, Athletics, English practice, Global Competency, Career Readiness and Well-Being. For the graduate version, categories are altered to include more academic/disciplinary aspects. Upon completion, students receive a letter of recommendation from INTO Masonâs Executive Director and an invitation to an end-of-year celebration.
There are two main goals for this initiative: to provide another incentive for INTO Mason students to become more engaged in the Mason community and to further the internationalization process to which Mason has committed itself. The initiative is being piloted this semester in several courses across INTO Masonâs three programs: Academic English, the Undergraduate International Year One program, and the Graduate Pathways program.
Our poster will display the results of the pilot including data on participation with student and faculty reactions, completion rates, and a brief review of literature on international student engagement. We will also have a mechanism for faculty/staff to share their ideas on the theme of international student engagement on campus. We hope to provide a model of ways international students have successfully engaged with Mason activities, to open a conversation about ways others might wish to facilitate rewarding engagement opportunities for international and domestic students, and demonstrate INTO Masonâs awareness of the student benefits from engaging more with Mason activities.
 
