The onset of the global pandemic and sudden transition to distance learning left many students feeling overwhelmed and lost in Spring 2020. This was especially challenging for third-year law students who not only were required to complete their legal education and to attend graduation online but also were faced with navigating their bar studies through a sea of uncertainty affecting the bar exam dates, content, and format. Thus, began the initiative to develop a supplemental program that would support students during this unprecedented time by helping them to flip the locus of control back to creating intrinsically-motivated goals and to regain and maintain their motivation through the longer bar prep season. This program, now known as the Gratitude Program, explains the gratitude-motivation connection and explores ideas for implementing technology resources, such as student-focused discussion boards, to use gratitude as a means to improve students' positive emotions and motivation for studying.
This session is for anyone from the novice to the experienced techie! Attendees will walk away with a solid understanding of the gratitude-motivation connection and three ready-to-go gratitude-motivation "enlightenment" activities that use discussion boards to facilitate communication between and among students and faculty.
