Enabling the Endeavoring:
Hope’s Role in Education
Kevin L. Rand
Department of Psychology
Name the author…
Each life converges to some centre
Expressed or still;
Exists in every human nature
A goal
Name the author…
Each life converges to some centre
Expressed or still;
Exists in every human nature
A goal
-Emily Dickinson
My Thanks To…
•My colleagues in the Psychology Department
• My graduate students:
Amanda Shea
Chloe Nicksic
Courtney Johnson
Emily Rock
• The undergraduate students at IUPUI
Overview: Where are we
going?



What is hope?
How does hope influence learning?
What are the practical
implications of hopeful
education?
Research on Hope
Higher hope → increased effort at tasks
 Higher hope → greater pain tolerance
 Higher hope → superior athletic
performance above and beyond athletic
ability
 Higher hope → better recovery from
illness & injury
 Higher hope → better mental health

Snyder’s (1994) Hope
Theory
Goals – the common thread to all
purposive human behavior
 Pathways – ‘Waypower’
 Agency – ‘Willpower’
 Emotions – information feedback about
goal pursuit

 Negative
– blocked goal
 Positive – progress or accomplishment
Goals
• Mental Target
• Some Probability of Reaching
• Short & Long Term
• Avoid vs. approach
• Hierarchical
Hierarchical Nature of Goals
Abstract (“Be”)
Ideal Self
Be Healthy
Exercise
Diet
Concrete (“Do”)
Be Happy
Run
Swim
Pathways
• Perceived Ability to Produce Plans
• Crucial When Encountering Blockages
• Most Preferred &
Alternate Routes
Agency
• Mental Determination
• Self-talk: “I will do this…”
• Channeling of Mental Energy
to Appropriate Routes
• Source can be internal
and/or external
Hope
Adult Hope Scale
HOW TRUE IS EACH STATEMENT OF YOU
1= Definitely False 4= Slightly False 5= Slightly True 8= Definitely True
___ 1. I can think of many way to get out of a jam. P
___ 2. There are lots of ways around any problem. P
___ 3. I can think of many ways to get the things in life that
are important to me. P
___ 4. Even when others get discouraged, I know I can find a
way to solve the problem. P
___ 5. I energetically pursue my goals. A
___ 6. My past experiences have prepared me well for my
future. A
___ 7. I’ve been pretty successful in life. A
___ 8. I meet the goals that I set for myself. A
Hope Scale Data
 Average
total score for adults is 48
 High
agency/pathways ≥ 26
 Low agency/pathways ≤ 20
 No
gender differences
 Some ethnic/racial differences
Hope & Learning: Theory
 Hope
allows students to select,
commit to, & work toward goals
 Hope engenders positive emotions,
which foster learning & perseverance
 Broaden
& build functions of positive
emotions (Frederickson)
 Reduction in debilitating effects of
anxiety
Hope & Learning: Research

Higher hope → more engaged & less disengaged
coping with academic stressors


Higher hope → less test anxiety


Chang, 1998; Alexander & Onwuegbuzie, 2007
Onwuegbuzie, 1998; Snyder, 1999
Higher hope → academic success above and
beyond intelligence

Curry, Snyder, et al., 1997; Rand, in press; Snyder,
Hoza, et al., 1997;
Snyder et al. (2002)
 6-year
prospective study of college
students
 Hope measured first-semester of
freshman year
 Higher-hope:
 Higher
overall GPA (controlling for ACT)
 Lower dismissal rate
 Higher graduation rate
Rand (in press)
 Semester-long
prospective study of
college students in psychology course
 Hope, optimism, & grade expectations
measured at beginning of semester
 Higher-hope:
 Higher
grade expectations → higher final
grade
 Higher final grade (controlling for GPA)
Optimism
GPA
.25
.87
.22
Goal
Attitude
.22
.87
Hope
Class Grade
.31
Predicted
Grade
.19
Rand, Martin, & Shea (2008)
 Semester-long
prospective study of
first-year law students
 Hope & optimism measured at
beginning of semester
 Higher-hope:
 Higher
semester GPA (controlling for
undergraduate GPA & LSAT)
LSAT
.13
UGPA
.38*
.25*
Hope
.39*
.38*
Optimism
Law School
GPA
.78
Life
Satisfaction
.56
Hopeful Education


Ideally, education is about more than becoming
knowledgeable in a particular area
In some ways, “what” students learn is simply a
vehicle to teach students “how” to get what they
want in life – this is the instillation of hope
Drew Appleby’s concept of “Overt” vs. “Covert”
curriculum
 Mr. Miyagi & “Wax on, wax off.”


Practically applying Hope Theory facilitates both
specific and general education goals

Goals, Pathways, Agency
Hopeful Goals


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Goals should be concrete & approach-oriented
Set stretch goals for students
Learning vs. performance goals
“Understand the 4 types of experimental validity”
 “Get a 90% on my next psychology exam”
 Ironically, learning goals improve performance
 Avoid forced grade distributions


Make your “covert” curriculum goals explicit

Explicitly make the connection between learning
goals and higher-order skills and mastery goals
Goal Clarification
Value
Why?
Learning Goal
Goal Clarification
Improve critical-thinking skills
Why?
Deepen your understanding of a
published research study
Fostering Pathways Thinking
 Be
explicit about what behaviors will
lead to success
 Kevin’s
10 pathways to successful learning
 “Generate 3 multiple-choice test questions”
 “Give 3 examples from your life of phenomena
discussed in lecture”
 Offer

multiple ways to success
Papers, tests, in-class activities
Goal Clarification
Learning Goal
How?
Pathway
Goal Clarification
Deepen your understanding of a
published research study
How?
Generate an alternative theory that
explains the study findings
Fostering Agency: Class Structure
 Multiple
methods of reinforcement
 Offer
more than just grades
 Connect learning goals to other life domains

Give meaning to learning goals
 Protects
against habituation & burnout
 Depersonalize
 It’s
grading system
about their behaviors, not about them
 Failure is simply information that they should
try something different
Fostering Agency: Class Style
 Exude Energy
 Teach with enthusiasm & humor
 Energy is contagious
 Positive affect = better learning
 Be a Storyteller
 Humans are wired to learn & share stories
 Organize lecture as a narrative; use jokes, anecdotes
 Personalize the Class
 Learn & use student names
 Offer anecdotes from your own life
 Talk about things that are relevant to college
students
Optimize Your Hope

Have a circumscribed set of goals for the class


Teach what excites you


Cover more of what you are interested in & less of
what you are not interested in
Don’t assume responsibility for students’ goals


Sometimes, less is more
You can only lead the horses to water…
Reframe student failure for yourself

Failure, while unpleasant, is not inherently bad
Thank You

If you have questions about hope theory, please
contact me:
Kevin Rand (klrand@iupui.edu)
Department of Psychology
LD 120E
274-6771
Goal Clarification
Value
Why?
Goal
How?
Pathway
Higher-Order Goals
“Be” Goals
Improve your creativity and
problem-solving skills that can be
used to achieve goals in other
domains of your life.
Become a more educated
consumer of information and
make better choices/decisions in
getting the things you want.
Understand how to use the
scientific method and logic to
answer questions and gain
information to help you navigate
life.
Why?
Learning Goal: Deepen Your Understanding of a Published
Research Study
How?
Generate an alternative
theory or hypothesis that
would equally explain the
findings of the study.
Assuming the results of the
study (and the theory they
support) are true, how
would you apply this
knowledge to your own life?
Lower-Order Goals
“Do” Goals
What questions do these
results raise? Design a
follow-up study to answer
one or more of these
questions.