My poster for my senior thesis at Bates College

1. Introduction Results
•The purpose of this study was to create and evaluate a photovoice program that explored ways to enhance intrinsic motivation •Activities that were chosen: drawing, reading, basketball
through practicing mindfulness and paying attention to one’s moment-to-moment experiences •3 girls actually took pictures of the activity that they chose
•It has been shown that intrinsic motivation helps students achieve at higher levels than their non-intrinsically motivated counterparts •2 girls just took pictures of the different components of the activity but did not actually engage in it
•Specifically, students who are intrinsically motivated constantly strive to enhance their learning and experience a •Overall, for questions 1 and 3, the majority girls implied that they could not remember what they were thinking or feeling, specific details about the
sense of self-efficacy instead of becoming frustrated and bored (Lei, 2010) objects involved in their activities, or the individual steps of the activity (moment-to-moment experiences)
•In order to achieve intrinsic motivation, one must find an optimal experience – an activity where skills and level of challenge are •In order to sufficiently answer the questions, the girls were asked to think about their activities as if they were doing them in the
matched. This ensures that one will remain engaged within an activity and therefore pay close attention present moment
•Past studies pertaining to mindfulness have shown that attentional involvement – a key component of mindfulness – mediates the •For question 2, two girls mentioned specific details about the appearance of the objects while the rest made observations unrelated to this study
relationship between optimal experience and enjoyment, or intrinsic motivation (Abuhamdeh&Csikszentmihalyi, 2012) •For question 3, one girl indicated that she did not feel like she was paying more attention to her moment-to-moment experiences
•Within a photovoice project, photographs taken by participants are discussed in a focus group, serving as facilitators of discussion and •All girls felt as if this project helped them, overall, pay more attention to what they were doing.
helping bring about common themes •They all also expressed that they appreciated the activity more, had a desire to get better at their activity, and felt as if they could improve,
showing evidence for intrinsic motivation
Objective •All girls enjoyed the project and expressed interest in doing a project like this again
•This project represents a first step in exploring photovoice as a tool to enhance mindfulness and intrinsic motivation; as well as explore
the possibility of introducing it as an activity for the Hillview Girls Aspirations program.
Community Partner
•Aspirations is a program that was created for the children who live in the Hillview public housing – there are separate programs for
girls and boys (this study focuses on the Girls Aspirations program)
•Each aspirations program is focused on helping the children create, maintain, and attain the goals they have set for
themselves, as well as their community
•Craft projects, cooking lessons, and group discussions
•Hillview is a subunit of the Lewiston Housing Authority (the local public housing program) and serves as a residential unit and resource
center
Discussion
•Hillview houses 87 families – 35 Somali families and 52 non-Somali families consisting of Hispanics, African-
Americans, and Caucasians •Results indicated that photovoice would be a beneficial activity to introduce into the Girls Aspirations’
curriculum due to the fact that the girls were engaged by the activity, enjoyed doing it, and expressed desire to
get better at their activities (this last point is congruent with one of Girls Aspirations’ goal to teach the girls that
they can be successful, especially if they work hard for it)
Methods • But, the results also showed that it was hard for the girls to recall, after 2 weeks, the specific details,
Participants thoughts, and feelings that corresponded to the pictures they took, taking away from the main point of
•6 Somali girls, ages 13 and 14, in the Hillview Girls Aspirations group mindfulness which is to be mindful while doing an activity rather than when reflecting about the activity
Activity •There was a small amount of evidence that this study fostered the girls’ intrinsic motivation in their activities
•Participants were initially taught about mindfulness through a “mindfully eating candy” exercise but I think this could be strengthened if the girls were more mindful when they were actually doing the activity
•Participants were asked to pick an activity that they enjoyed and wanted to get better at and that also fit the criteria of an •Two girls did not actually engage in the activity that they chose, which is also problematic
“optimal experience” – an activity where skills and level of challenge are matched
• Keeping this activity in mind, participants were given photography prompts pertaining to mindfully taking •In future photovoice projects on the subject of mindfulness…
photographs •Immediately after taking their pictures, participants should have to write down their thoughts and
1. Look at the main object of the activity closely. Take pictures of its details. feelings, details that they notice, and what their moment-to-moment experiences consist of
2. What thoughts and feelings do you have when you are doing this activity? Take pictures that show
these thoughts or feelings. •Also it must be stressed that participants really engage in the activity that they choose, in order for
3. Take pictures of everything that is involved in this activity, everything that is used. mindfulness to be effective
• Participants were asked to use all 27 pictures in a disposable camera •This study also showed that perhaps the prompts were too complex and complicated for the girls to
Evaluation really be able to understand and engage in mindfulness so, several different photovoice projects
•Each participant was asked to pick out two pictures that best showed the activity that they chose should be completed, starting off with the basics of mindfulness, and building up complexity from
•Individual interviews were held to discuss the photographs that participants had taken, what they had learned from the exercise, and there
their overall satisfaction with the exercise
1. Do you remember what you were thinking or feeling?
2. Did you pay more attention to the details? Did you notice details about the objects that you hadn’t noticed before
doing this project?
3. What are all the steps involved in doing your activity? Did you feel like you were paying more attention to the
moment-to-moment experiences, or individual steps of the activity?
4. Overall, do you feel like this project helped you pay more attention to what you were doing? References
5. Do you feel like you appreciate the activity more now that you’ve really paid attention to it? After doing this
project, do you feel like you want to continue to get better at your activity? Do you feel like you can improve in your Lei, S. A. (2010). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation: Evaluating benefits and drawbacks from college instructors' perspectives. Journal Of
activity? Instructional Psychology, 37(2), 153-160
6. Did you enjoy doing this project? Would you like to do something like this again? Abuhamdeh, S., &Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2012). Attentional involvement and intrinsic motivation. Motivation And Emotion, 36(3), 257-267. doi:
•A photovoice curriculum based off of the current study was created to leave with Hillview for future Girls Aspirations program 10.1007/s11031-011-9252-7