Educating the Youth to Develop Life Purpose: An Eco-systemic Approach

Life purpose is an internal representation of a personally meaningful, prosocial contribution the person intends to engage with over their life span. Individuals’ purposes interact within a social-cultural eco-system by directing individuals’ perceptions toward situational resources (including others’ purposes) that can help enact their purpose. Education can encourage students to explore their purposes within and beyond the classroom. This paper describes a case study of a class offered six times using three different ecological “niches”: (1) conceptual understanding eco-niche focused on learning the concept and its relationships to other concepts; (2) resources-application eco-niche focused on reconceiving aspects of the concept as intellectual instruments to apply to real-life cases, including students themselves; (3) iterative practice eco-niche focused on implementing purposes within various contexts and interpreting feedback from those contexts. Using a feedback loop model to interpret how each eco-niche favours a different starting point and development trajectory through Damon’s (2008) four dimensions of purpose, this eco-niche comparison (a) emphasizes how “high impact” educational experiences focus not on the students’ improvements but rather on the improvements of communities as a result of students' enacting their purpose through their contributions, and (b) offers insights for teachers to infuse purpose development opportunities in their classes.     El propósito de vida es una representación interna de una contribución prosocial significativa que la persona intenta realizar a lo largo de su vida. Los propósitos de los individuos interactúan dentro de un ecosistema sociocultural al dirigir las percepciones de los individuos hacia los recursos situacionales que pueden ayudar a cumplir su propósito. La educación puede animar a los estudiantes a explorar sus propósitos dentro y fuera del aula. Este artículo describe un estudio de caso de una clase ofrecida seis veces usando tres “nichos” ecológicos diferentes: (1) comprensión conceptual enfocado en aprender el concepto y sus relaciones con otros conceptos; (2) aplicación de herramientas enfocadas en reconcebir aspectos del concepto para aplicar a casos reales, incluyendo a los propios estudiantes; (3) práctica iterativa enfocada en implementar propósitos dentro de varios contextos e interpretar la retroalimentación de esos contextos. Usando un modelo de bucle de retroalimentación para interpretar cómo cada nicho ecológico privilegia un punto de partida diferente y una trayectoria de desarrollo a través de las cuatro dimensiones de propósito de Damon (2008), esta comparación de nicho ecológico (a) enfatiza cómo las experiencias educativas de "alto impacto" no se enfocan en las mejoras en los estudiantes, sino más bien en las mejoras a las comunidades a través de las contribuciones de los estudiantes, y (b) ofrece ideas para que los maestros infundan oportunidades de desarrollo de propósito en sus clases.

How Do US College Students\u27 Sense of Life Purpose Relate to Their Emotional Expectations Toward Community Work in Service-Learning Courses?

INTRODUCTION: Few studies consider how purpose in life predicts emotions related to community service in college courses even though a purpose in life, a “compass” for finding opportunities to make meaningful prosocial contributions, should motivate students to serve. METHOD: Multilevel structural equation modeling estimated direct and indirect effects of survey responses regarding students’ past service experience, sense of purpose, and searching for purpose on their emotional expectations for service-learning before starting. RESULTS: Controlling for age, gender, extrinsic motivation, and characteristics of universities and courses, students’ past service experience and two purpose variables positively related to expected positive emotions toward service work, mediated through both students’ helping identity and intrinsic motivation to serve. Only sense of purpose was associated with higher intrinsic motivation, which was associated with lower expected negative emotions. DISCUSSION: Considering students’ life purpose may stimulate intrinsic motivation and schemas of being a helping person, which could contribute to positive emotions toward community service even before the service work begins

Educando a los jóvenes para desarrollar un propósito para la vida: un enfoque ecológico

Life purpose is an internal representation of a personally meaningful, prosocial contribution the person intends to engage with over their life span. Individuals’ purposes interact within a social-cultural eco-system by directing individuals’ perceptions toward situational resour-ces (including others’ purposes) that can help enact their purpose. Education can encourage students to explore their purposes within and beyond the classroom. This paper describes a case study of a class offered six times using three different ecological “niches”: (1) conceptual understanding eco-niche focused on learning the concept and its relationships to other concepts; (2) resources-application eco-niche focused on reconceiving aspects of the concept as intellectual instruments to apply to real-life cases, including students themselves; (3) iterative practice eco-niche focused on implementing purposes within various contexts and interpreting feedback from those contexts. Using a feedback loop model to interpret how each eco-niche favours a different starting point and development trajectory through Damon’s (2008) four dimensions of purpose, this eco-niche comparison (a) emphasizes how “high impact” educational experiences focus not on the students’ improvements but rather on the improvements of communities as a result of students’ enacting their purpose through their contributions, and (b) offers insights for teachers to infuse purpose development opportunities in their classes.El propósito de vida es una representación interna de una contribución prosocial significativa que la persona intenta realizar a lo largo de su vida. Los propósitos de los individuos interactúan dentro de un ecosistema sociocultural al dirigir las percepciones de los individuos hacia los recur-sos situacionales que pueden ayudar a cumplir su propósito. La educación puede animar a los estudiantes a explorar sus propósitos dentro y fuera del aula. Este artículo describe un estudio de caso de una clase ofrecida seis veces usando tres “nichos” ecológicos diferentes: (1) comprensión conceptual enfocado en aprender el concepto y sus relaciones con otros conceptos; (2) aplicación de herramientas enfocadas en reconcebir aspectos del concepto para aplicar a casos reales, inclu-yendo a los propios estudiantes; (3) práctica iterativa enfocada en implementar propósitos dentro de varios contextos e interpretar la retroalimentación de esos contextos. Usando un modelo de bucle de retroalimentación para interpretar cómo cada nicho ecológico privilegia un punto de partida diferente y una trayectoria de desarrollo a través de las cuatro dimensiones de propósito de Damon (2008), esta comparación de nicho ecológico (a) enfatiza cómo las experiencias educativas de “alto impacto” no se enfocan en las mejoras en los estudiantes, sino más bien en las mejoras a las comunidades a través de las contribuciones de los estudiantes, y (b) ofrece ideas para que los maestros infundan oportunidades de desarrollo de propósito en sus clases

How does US college students’ sense of life purpose relate to their emotional expectations of being a volunteer in the community as part of a service-learning course?

INTRODUCTION. Few studies consider how purpose in life predicts emotions related to community service in college courses even though a purpose in life, a “compass” for finding opportunities to make meaningful prosocial contributions, should motivate students to serve. METHOD. Multilevel structural equation modeling estimated direct and indirect effects of survey responses regarding students’ past service experience, sense of purpose, and searching for purpose on their emotional expectations for service-learning before starting. RESULTS. Controlling for age, gender, extrinsic motivation, and characteristics of universities and courses, students’ past service experience and two purpose variables positively related to expected positive emotions toward service work, mediated through both students’ helping identity and intrinsic motivation to serve. Only sense of purpose was associated with higher intrinsic motivation, which was associated with lower expected negative emotions. DISCUSSION. Considering students’ life purpose may stimulate intrinsic motivation and schemas of being a helping person, which could contribute to positive emotions toward community service even before the service work begins.INTRODUCTION. Peu d'études examinent comment l'objectif de la vie prédit les émotions liées au service communautaire dans les cours des collèges, même si un objectif de la vie, une "boussole" permettant de trouver des occasions de faire des contributions prosociales significatives, devrait motiver les étudiants à s’engager dans des activités de service. MÉTHODE. La modélisation multiniveau par équation structurelle a permis d’estimer les effets directs et indirects des réponses à l’enquête sur l’expérience passée des étudiants en service, leur sens de la vie et leur quête d’un but dans la vie et leurs attentes émotionnelles d’apprentissage par le service avant d’en avoir eu l’expérience. RÉSULTATS. Tout en tenant compte de l'âge, du sexe, de la motivation extrinsèque et des caractéristiques des universités et des cours, le résultat est que l'expérience de service passée des étudiants et deux variables qui mesurent le but de la vie ont une relation positive avec les émotions positives que les étudiants s'attendent à ressentir pendant l’activité de service. Le sentiment de motivation apparaît comme associé à une motivation intrinsèque plus élevée, et une motivation intrinsèque plus élevée apparaît comme associée à des émotions négatives moins attendues. DISCUSSION. Considérer le but de la vie des étudiants pourrait stimuler la motivation intrinsèque et l'identification en tant que personne qui aide les autres, ce qui pourrait aider à créer des sentiments positifs sur le service communautaire avant même que le travail de service ne commence.INTRODUCCIÓN. Pocos estudios consideran cómo el propósito de la vida predice las emociones relacionadas con el aprendizaje-servicio universitario, aunque el propósito, una “brújula” para encontrar oportunidades para realizar contribuciones prosociales significativas, debe motivar a los estudiantes a prestar servicio. MÉTODO. La ecuación estructural multinivel modela los efec-tos directos e indirectos de las respuestas de la encuesta con respecto a la experiencia pasada de servicio de los estudiantes, el sentido y la búsqueda del propósito en sus expectativas emociona-les de aprendizaje-servicio antes de comenzar. RESULTADOS. Controlando la edad, el género, la motivación extrínseca y las características de las universidades y de los cursos, la experiencia pasada de servicio de los estudiantes y dos variables de propósito se relacionaron de manera po-sitiva con las emociones positivas esperadas hacia el trabajo de servicio, mediadas a través de la identidad de ayuda de los estudiantes y la motivación intrínseca para servir. Solo el sentido de propósito se asoció con una mayor motivación intrínseca, que se asoció con una menor cantidad de emociones negativas esperadas. DISCUSIÓN. Tener en cuenta el propósito de la vida de los estudiantes puede estimular la motivación intrínseca y los esquemas de ser una persona que ayu-da, lo que podría contribuir a crear emociones positivas hacia el servicio comunitario incluso antes de que comience el trabajo de servicio

Multiple intelligences around the world

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Global, regional, and country-specific lifetime risks of stroke, 1990 and 2016

BACKGROUND The lifetime risk of stroke has been calculated in a limited number of selected populations. We sought to estimate the lifetime risk of stroke at the regional, country, and global level using data from a comprehensive study of the prevalence of major diseases. METHODS We used the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study 2016 estimates of stroke incidence and the competing risks of death from any cause other than stroke to calculate the cumulative lifetime risks of first stroke, ischemic stroke, or hemorrhagic stroke among adults 25 years of age or older. Estimates of the lifetime risks in the years 1990 and 2016 were compared. Countries were categorized into quintiles of the sociodemographic index (SDI) used in the GBD Study, and the risks were compared across quintiles. Comparisons were made with the use of point estimates and uncertainty intervals representing the 2.5th and 97.5th percentiles around the estimate. RESULTS The estimated global lifetime risk of stroke from the age of 25 years onward was 24.9% (95% uncertainty interval, 23.5 to 26.2); the risk among men was 24.7% (95% uncertainty interval, 23.3 to 26.0), and the risk among women was 25.1% (95% uncertainty interval, 23.7 to 26.5). The risk of ischemic stroke was 18.3%, and the risk of hemorrhagic stroke was 8.2%. In high-SDI, high-middle-SDI, and low- SDI countries, the estimated lifetime risk of stroke was 23.5%, 31.1% (highest risk), and 13.2% (lowest risk), respectively; the 95% uncertainty intervals did not overlap between these categories. The highest estimated lifetime risks of stroke according to GBD region were in East Asia (38.8%), Central Europe (31.7%), and Eastern Europe (31.6%), and the lowest risk was in eastern sub-Saharan Africa (11.8%). The mean global lifetime risk of stroke increased from 22.8% in 1990 to 24.9% in 2016, a relative increase of 8.9% (95% uncertainty interval, 6.2 to 11.5); the competing risk of death from any cause other than stroke was considered in this calculation. CONCLUSIONS In 2016, the global lifetime risk of stroke from the age of 25 years onward was approximately 25% among both men and women. There was geographic variation in the lifetime risk of stroke, with the highest risks in East Asia, Central Europe, and Eastern Europe