Best Strategies for Strengths Interventions Part I

I've gotten a few e-mails lately that have asked me what I think is the best strategy for introducing first-year students to their talents and then helping them develop their strengths. We've been doing quite a bit of research over the years with first-year students, but there isn't a simple answer to this question! No particular study has been done yet that has compared different exposure times, although there are a few studies that have compared strategies. Today I'll focus just on the time element. Next posting I'll address the strategies!

When Chip Anderson was still alive, he always said that strengths development takes time -- the exposure of students to their talents and to strategies for developing strengths is a process that is best distributed over time. So he always suggested 90 minutes of class time each week for an entire semester. But some studies have been done that show successful results with four 90-minute class sessions or workshop sessions; others have found some success with even a 30-minute one-on-one counseling session around students' strengths.

We think the best strategy is one that gives students exposure over time with a continuing application and development. It doesn't end the first year but becomes a process over all four (or more!) years of a student's college education. Each year should build on the previous learning, so that it is not repetitive but keeps advancing students' skills and knowledge in developing their strengths.

Two questions to ask before starting: (1) what do you mean by a "strengths intervention"? and (2) what outcomes do you hope to see in your students?

I'll deal with the second question this time and save the first question for next time, when I will focus on strategies.

In deciding what to measure as an outcome, you need to think about what you are hoping to accomplish in your students. If your context is a first-year experience program, you might want to measure student adjustment to college, engaged learning, or academic self-efficacy (one of the best predictors of student success). If your context is a student leadership development program, you might want to measure emotional intelligence or leadership skills. Career centers might measure career decision-making self-efficacy; chaplain's programs might measure sense of meaning and purpose; advising programs might measure goal-orientation or hope. The point is that you need to think ahead of time what your program wants to see developed in your students--and why!

Once you've done that, you can select appropriate measures. The Strengths Impact Measure is available from The Gallup Organization by contacting Irene Burklund at Irene_Burklund@gallup.com; it is one measure that assesses strengths awareness and ownership, sense of meaning and purpose, hope, academic self-efficacy, and academic engagement. The Engaged Learning Index--a new validated measure containing 15 items that assess the extent to which students are engaged in deep learning in their classes (a key predictor of learning gains and graduation) -- is available from the Noel Academy for Strengths-Based Leadership and Education (www.apu.edu/strengthsacademy).

There are some great studies in process right now that are examining specific strategies for strengths interventions. There are also some very good studies that have already been done. Next time I'll focus on these!