Authors: Trixie James & Vikki Walters
CQUniversity Australia

Edition: Volume 60, Number 2, July 2020

Introduction: Positive psychology is one of the newest branches of psychology to emerge, and there is a growing research base of scientific study to validate the significance of this psychological approach in people’s lives. This research investigates a unit of study that was developed for students entering university through an enabling program in order to introduce them to proactive solutions and strategies to develop their strengths, capacity and virtues rather than focusing on past weaknesses. Currently, only anecdotal evidence exists indicating that this unit is having a positive impact on the students who have completed the unit. As this research wants to identify the effectiveness of this unit in facilitating change in a student’s life, the core tenets of Appreciative Inquiry guided the overall process of formulating the research approach and designing the questions for the survey. Past students became the change actors and their voice and experiences became the data.

Keywords: positive psychology, positive learning, enabling programs, tertiary access, first year, transitioning to university, mature age students, support networks

Share a copy of this abstract.

This article is part of AJAL, Volume 60:2. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.