Project Activities
The research team will develop and pilot test a multimedia mindfulness training program for high school students. In Year 1, the research team will refine the learning objectives for the program through a survey of mindfulness experts. At the end of Year 1 and beginning of Year 2, the research team will develop a complete written curriculum, implement it within multiple high schools, and refine it through quantitative and qualitative feedback from students in two iterative studies. At the end of Year 2 and beginning of Year 3, the research team will develop a multimedia version of the program using video and refine it through two iterative studies. During the remaining part of Year 3, a pilot study of the intervention will be conducted using a randomized controlled trial with an active control condition.
Structured Abstract
Setting
This study will take place in public schools located across the United States, including urban and suburban areas of California, Minnesota, and Illinois.
Sample
In Year 1, 25 expert mindfulness teachers will provide curriculum feedback. In Years 1-3, 840 students in 11th and 12th grade will participate across four iterative development studies. In Year 3, 600 students will participate in the pilot study.
The multimedia training will expand on an existing classroom-based program that has already been shown to enhance the focus of both college and high school students. It will include eight sessions administered through a custom online learning platform using direct-to-camera video instruction. Each weekly lesson will begin by assessing learning from the last lesson and correcting any misunderstanding. Every lesson will consist of a number of modules that each introduces an important concept or strategy, and each module concludes with an assessment of comprehension and brief activities to deepen learning. Each lesson ends with a 5-minute guided meditation in which students practice focusing their attention on the sensations of breathing. A continually updated online Frequently Asked Questions page will allow students and teachers to search, explore, and pose questions to a team of expert mindfulness teachers and researchers. An online instructional guide will support schools and teachers in administering the intervention.
Research design and methods
In Year 1, the research team will refine the learning objectives for the program through a survey of mindfulness experts. At the end of Year 1 and beginning of Year 2, the research team will develop a complete written curriculum, implement it within multiple high schools, and refine it through quantitative and qualitative feedback from students in two iterative studies. At the end of Year 2 and beginning of Year 3, the research team will develop a multimedia version of the program using video and refine it through two iterative studies. Finally, in Year 3, the research team will conduct the pilot study to evaluate the intervention's usability, feasibility, fidelity of implementation, and efficacy using a pre-test/post-test, fully powered cluster-randomized trial in which classrooms are assigned to condition using stratified randomization based on students' most recent standardized test scores.
Control condition
The pilot study will use a carefully matched nutrition training program as an active control designed to minimize confounding effects due to expectation, motivation, or demand characteristics.
Key measures
Key measures of student learning outcomes include: a standardized multiple-choice test of reading comprehension, overall GPA, subject-specific grades in math and English, and standardized test scores in math and English. Key measures of attention and mind-wandering include: the Attention Network Test, thought sampling to assess mindfulness during testing, the Mindful Attention and Awareness Scale for Adolescents, the Mind-Wandering Questionnaire, the Positive Affect and Negative Affect Schedule, the Emotional Regulation Scale – Children/Adolescents, Indicators of Effective Mindfulness Instruction. Usability, feasibility, and fidelity of implementation will be measured by the proportion of intervention modules successfully completed, and surveys for teachers.
Data analytic strategy
The research team will analyzequalitative development data using inductive coding. For quantitative data, including those from the pilot study, researchers will use multilevel regression models using full-information maximum likelihood estimation.
People and institutions involved
IES program contact(s)
Project contributors
Products and publications
Researchers will produce a fully developed, multimedia mindfulness intervention and online learning platform as well as peer-reviewed publications.
Publications:
ERIC Citations: Find available citations in ERIC for this award here.
Select Publications
Journal articles
Mrazek, A.J., Mrazek, M.D., Carr, P.C., Delegard, A.M., Ding, M.G., Garcia, D.I., Greenstein, J.E., Kirk, A.C., Kodama, E.E., Krauss, M.J., Landry, A.P., Stokes, C.A., Wickens, K.D., Wong, K., & Schooler, J.W. (2020). The feasibility of attention training for reducing mind-wandering and digital multitasking in high schools. Education Sciences, 10(8), 201. Full text
Mrazek, A.J., Mrazek, M.D., Ortega, J.R., Ji, R.R., Karimi, S.S., Brown, C.S., Alexander, C.A., Khan, M., Panahi, E. Sadoff, M., Scott, A. Tyszka, J.E., & Schooler, J.W. (2021). Teenagers' smartphone use during homework: An analysis of beliefs and behaviors around digital multitasking. Education Sciences, 11, 713. Full text
Mrazek, A.J., Mrazek, M.D., Reese, J.V, Kirk, A.C., Gougis, L.J., Delegard, A.M., Cynman, D.J., Cherolini, C.M., Carr, P.C., & Schooler, J.W. (2019). Mindfulness-based attention training: Feasibility and preliminary outcomes of a digital course for high school students. Education Sciences,9(3), 230. doi:10.3390/educsci9030230 Full text
Mrazek, A.J., Mrazek, M.D.,Cherolini, C.M., Cloughesy, J.N., Cynman, D.J., Gougis, L.J., Landry,A.P., Reese, J.V., & Schooler, J.W. (2018). The future of mindfulness training is digital, and the future is now. Current Opinion in Psychology, 28, 81-86. Full text
Questions about this project?
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