Designing Courses to Develop Students’ Personal Resilience: A “Hidden Curriculum” to Facilitate Student Success

Keywords: Resilience, experiential learning, hidden curriculum

Abstract: Personal Resilience, the ability to pick ones’ self up after a setback and try again, has been linked to many positive outcomes including adaptability, optimism, determination and perseverance (Nolen-Hoeksema, Girgus, & Seligman, 1986; Masten, 2001; Taormina, 2015; Walker, 2015; Walker et al 2019). However, the pursuit of easily measured academic outcomes can come at the expense of accomplishing objectives like learning to be resilient that could more directly relate to long-term student success. What are some ways to foster personal resilience?

In this roundtable we will explore potential adaptations to undergraduate courses that are designed to build personal resilience. These include both course structures and instructor behaviors.