Final presentation proto lyfe_ashleysarah
- 1. ProtoLyfe Ashley Moulton Sarah McDevitt How visualizing potential life outcomes can help decrease high school students’ stress
- 2. Stressor: High school pressures “I feel like if I get a bad grade on a test, I’ll get a bad grade in the class, then I won’t get into a good college, then I won’t be successful in life.” - “Brooklyn” ‘16 POV: High school students can reduce their stress about the future if they can broaden definitions of future success
- 3. SBTM: Simplest Behavior that Matters Identify and visualize 3 future paths to happiness, helping students understand that one “mistake” won't alter their future meaningfully
- 4. Prototype 1: Life Maps via Post-It Step 1: Student lists 3… ● places ● careers ● work environments ● college majors ● hobbies Step 2: We draw Step 3: Student reflects
- 5. Prototype 2: Life Maps via texts
- 6. Prototype 2: Life Maps via texts
- 7. Design Trial Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat Sun Life Map Group pre-test Question 1: location Question 2: work environ. Question 3: career Question 4: college major Question 5: hobby ● sent 3 life maps ● then submitted reflection on life maps ● then completed post-test Question Only Group pre-test Question 1: location Question 2: work environ. Question 3: career Question 4: college major Question 5: hobby post-test
- 8. Design Trial Questions ● Engagement: Will students participate? ● Outcome: Reduce current stress about... ○ future? ○ consequences of a bad test grade? Participants ● 19 high school students ● Grades 9-12 ● From 5 high schools in California and Pennsylvania ● High academic achievers ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
- 9. Engagement Results They liked it! 17 of 19 students participated in all 7 days “I really loved the personalized life map! That really made me excited.” “I liked it all! Thank you!” “Each day's questions were quick and easy to answer, which was good. I liked that I could do it all on my phone, too.”
- 10. Qualitative Stress Results Life Map Group: Decreased Stress “This project made me realize that I have more options than I thought. I don’t have to decide my entire life right now, which many high school students feel pressured to do.” - 11th grader “This helped me realize that I don’t have to make all my decisions now, and that there is still the option for me to change my mind halfway through life.” - 11th grader “I do not have just one option to follow, I realized I have multiple paths I could go on and still be happy.” - 12th grader “It made me excited to get my life started.” - 11th grader
- 11. “Eh, not really.” “Not really.” “I still don't know what I want to do in my future so not really.” “It made me feel a little better because it simplified everything down into just naming three options I was considering instead of a billion options swirling around my head.” Qualitative Stress Results Questions Only Group: Unchanged
- 12. Quantitative Results: Life Maps Reduced Future Stress % Reduction in self- reported stress about the future: Life Map group: 23% Questions only: 4% n=9 n=7 High stress Low stress
- 13. Quantitative Results: Life Maps Reduced Future Stress % Reduction in the perceived effect of one bad test grade this year on future success: Life Map group: 10% Questions only: 3% n=9 n=7 High effect Low effect
- 14. Insight By visualizing multiple future lives that would make them happy, high school students can reduce the stress that comes from believing there is only one path to success
- 17. Next Steps Feature additions: - Affirmations that it is okay to be uncertain about future paths - Use more interest-based questions to develop life paths User testing: - Test with boys - With larger data set, look for any correlation between academic indicators (homework hours, # APs) and intervention effects