Flow
Flow describes continuous motion or development
Cross-curricular ties
Landscape architecture- designing a waterfall that flows unobstructively into a river
How to create flowing movements in dance
Writing with flow or with natural transitions
Flow vs. viscosity in a chemical substance
Flow of productivity or attention in Psychology
Motivation and attention in Psychology
The Flow theory by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi: a state of engrossed attention on a specific topic that yields high productivity
Assessment of Student understanding
Pre-assessment: ask them what they think of when they hear "in the flow of things." Check for previous understandings, schemas, and connotations. Design a pretest or a list of experiences and see if they can identify which involve flow and which do not.
Post-assessment: Present the same list of
experiences as pretest and see if they can better differentiate. Ask each student to describe a personal example or experience with "flow" to ensure personal application and understanding.
Defining Features
Time flies/passes without awareness
The steps of the projects blend
effortlessly and naturally, without conscious interference
A state of single-focused attention, on ONE task
Correlational features
Working on a project or hobby you naturally enjoy
A feeling of "zoning out" or losing sense of reality
Extreme productivity- completing or accomplishing a great amount of work during the flow.
Prototypes: Getting lost in a good book, a pianist finishing a piece and "returning" to reality afterwards
Possible misconceptions
"It must be a project you are naturally
interested or enjoy, you cannot experience flow in busy work." This is False as well. Work or other typically uninteresting projects can become flow experiences if you train yourself.
"I feel in the 'zone' when I workout and watch my favorite tv show, I must be experiencing flow."- This is false, you cannot experience flow while multitasking.
"If I feel zoned out while driving
or reading a textbook, that must mean I'm experiencing flow." This is false. While feelings of being "zoned out" or out of touch of reality are associated with flow, they do not necessarily mean flow is being experienced.
Cardiology and bloodflow
Student Developmental level
Age: 17+, Late-high school, early college education
College students have attention spans of about 15 minutes, but are expected to have
a fairly long attention span through a class or lecture, usually longer than an hour.
To help them pay attention, it is my
job as the professor to present the concept in a way that is relatable and engaging to the students, so I will have them come up with personal experiences or examples of flow to better understand it. I will also institute breaks every twenty minutes or so.
Subtopic
Many gender differences have decreased
by this point. If anything, make sure to praise both young men and young women equally and reinforce participation throughout, as this is a female-dominated field.
Flow is a fairly universal concept,
and everyone should be able to understand it regardless of gender or culture.
Cognitive development
These students are likely in
Piaget's formal operational stage
of cognitive development, meaning
they can manipulate abstract and symbolic
concepts mentally to learn something new.
In terms of Vygotsky's theory of
Development, college-age students
have had a fair amount of life experience
and likely would need minimal scaffolding to accommodate a new psychology definition into what they already know about "flow." Chances are that, throughout their lives, each of these students have personally experienced flow at one time or another.
They are in Erikson's stage of intimacy
vs. Isolation, meaning these students may benefit from working in teams of both men and women for psychosocial development.