Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
A Dissertation
Presented to the
Faculty of
California State University,
San Bernardino
In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Doctor of Education
in
Educational Leadership
by
Alejandro Jazan
December 2016
A Dissertation
Presented to the
Faculty of
California State University,
San Bernardino
by
Alejandro Jazan
December 2016
Approved by:
Students who are new to higher education need strong skills to cope with
the large amounts of stress that they experience. Many students are unable to
adapt to the demand that are placed upon them while in school. Contemplative
education has not typically formed throughout the curriculum in the Western
world (Waters, Barksy, Ridd, & Allen, 2015). There is sufficient research on
meditation as a technique to help alleviate student anxiety with public speaking
(Fling, Thomas, & Gallaher, 1981; Kirsch & Henry, 1979). However, there has
been limited research into the effects of meditation techniques and student
success for community colleges. Although there have been studies that have
investigated the effects of meditation programs on school campuses, the topic
has been relatively unexplored from a Western philosophical perspective.
The goal of the study is to uncover what specific meditation techniques
are effective in helping relieve the stress and anxiety that students currently feel
in community college. To succeed and thrive in todays educational context,
students need strong skills to cope with stress and anxiety. This study will
develop which meditation techniques are most beneficial for students.
Research Questions
This study will focus on these aforementioned questions regarding which
meditation techniques are most effective in reducing stress among college
students. The three research questions are:
RQ1: What are the effects of transcendental meditation on mindfulness?
10
One subject that has shown to produce a lot of anxiety is public speaking.
Studies have shown that meditation techniques can help alleviate public
speaking anxiety (Kirsch & Henry, 1979; Huston, 2010). There are many different
types of desensitization activities that may be effective in reducing public
speaking anxiety (Kirsch & Henry, 1979). Research on meditation has tended to
investigate the technique for enhancing relaxation responses in decreasing
anxiety (Compton & Becker, 1983). By having students use contemplative
curricular activities students are encouraged to look inward for solutions
(Newman, 2008; Leoni, 2006). Contemplative practices can transform
classrooms and help students learn intrinsic communication concepts (Huston,
2010).
Far too often, students experience a great deal of stress obtaining a
college education (Waters, Barsky, Ridd, & Allen, 2014; Oswalt & Riddock, 2007).
College students report feeling stressed about grades and earning degrees.
Different extraneous factors such as excessive homework, time commitments,
financial constraints, and relationships were stressors (Oswalt & Riddock, 2007).
The use of mindfulness meditation techniques has been shown to help alleviate
different sources of stress source. Houston (2010) indicates that mindfulness
meditation can help enhance student learning within communication courses.
The more stress that students feel the more difficult it is for them to
recover. Using intervention program such as mindfulness-based stress reduction
(MBSR) which incorporates meditation, yoga, the body scan, and sitting
11
meditation are useful (Gallegos et al., 2013). There are many positive effects
associated with yoga and sitting meditation especially for older adults
experiencing age-related declines and physiological functioning (Gallegos et al.,
2013). Students who practice meditation techniques are able to focus more on
student success.
It is safe to assume that by learning the techniques of meditation, both
novice and seasoned practitioners can stand to benefit (Sussman, 2011). This
literature review examines the effects of meditation techniques, including sitting
meditation and moving meditation, as well as transcendental meditation and how
it is effective with coping mechanisms in college education.
Hooks (2003) talked about using mindfulness techniques such as
meditation to help balance her passion for teaching and for thinking. Teaching
students to be fully present, to enjoy the moment, without fear that this places
their future in jeopardy is essential to mindfulness practice. Helping students to
be in the moment, helping them to be happy at peace, and fulfilled in the moment
is essential to maximizing student success and to creating a positive educational
experience. There have been different institutions of education that have
institutionalized meditation programs (Waters, et al., 2015). A school-based
meditation model has been developed using three strands of research (Waters,
et al., 2015).
12
Summary
The relationship is clear that mindfulness-based and contemplative-based
curriculum can help alleviate stress and help students cope with the tremendous
amount of stress that is placed upon them in higher education environments. The
aforementioned research examines the role that these new meditation practices
have on student success. The studies have shown that there is a connection
between student success in higher education and meditation practice. The
following chapter will describe the research design.
13
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
Research Design
The research design in this study uses a mixed methods approach. To
date, there have been no longitudinal studies examining the impact of meditation.
Technologies such as EEG and FMR I are being used to show that meditation is
linked with changes in logical structure (Waters, et al., 2015). This study will
utilize the sequential exploratory research design (Schnorr, 2016).
Research Setting
The research conducted in this study will incorporate a traditional
community college in the Coachella Valley in Southern California. This institution
is considered a Hispanic serving institution (HSI).
Research Sample
The research sample will be composed of undergraduate volunteers
completing lower division undergraduate requirements in order to transfer to a
four-year institution. In addition, the sample will include responses from faculty
facilitators as well a student responses.
Research Data
The research data will employ a survey as well as pre and post open-ended
14
Data Collection
I will obtain permission to conduct an 8-week MBSR training on campus. I
will collect data from the undergraduate volunteers. The participants from the
study will come from across the campus. The course includes a 20 to 30 minute
meditation. Furthermore, instructions will be given for the practice of meditation
during each session. These students will also be instructed to practice outside of
class while the course is in progress. Participation is voluntary and not required.
At the end of the program students will be asked to participate in a web-based
survey.
Data Analysis
Data analysis will consist of using the results from the discussion questions
and on the aforementioned survey. Results from the quantitative questions from
the survey will be analyzed using SPSS for Windows.
15
Summary
This study will serve insightful to the connections and implications
between mindfulness meditation practices and stress reduction. This can
ultimately lead to impacting outcomes of student success in higher education. If
stress is a major contributor to unhealthy lifestyles and student attrition, it is
warranted to examine these variables.
References
Bishop, S. R., Lau, M., Shapiro, S., Carlson, L., Anderson, N. C., Carmody, J.
(2004). Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition: Clinical
Psychology: Science and Practice, 11, 230-241.
Brint, S., & Karabel, J. (1989). The divergent dream community colleges and the
promise of educational opportunity in America, 1900-1985. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
Callan, P. M. (2009). California Higher Education, The Master Plan, And The
Erosion of College Opportunity. San Jose: The National Center for Public
Policy and Higher Education.
Compton. W. C. & Becker, G. M. (1983). self-actualization's and experience with
Zen meditation: is a learning period necessary for meditation? Journal of
clinical psychology, 925- 930.
Fling, S. T. (1981). Participant characteristics and the effects of two types of
meditation versus quiet sitting. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 784-790.
Gallegos, A. M. (2013). toward identifying the effects of the specific components
of mindfulness-based stress reduction on biologic and emotional
outcomes among older adults. the Journal of Alternative and
Contementary Medicine, 787-792.
Sussman, A. K. (2011). The wisdom of the inner life: Meeting oneself through
meditation and music. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education,
55-64.
Waters, l. B., Barsky, A., Ridd, A., Allen, K. (2015). Contemplative education: A
systematic evidence-based review of the effect of meditation interventions
in schools. Educational Psychological Review, 103-134.