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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Positive Psychology by The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

4.7
stars
5,827 ratings

About the Course

This course discusses research findings in the field of positive psychology, conducted by Barbara Fredrickson and her colleagues. It also features practical applications of this science that you can put to use immediately to help you live a full and meaningful life....

Top reviews

BA

Sep 2, 2020

This course entitled Positive Psychology changed my perspective in life and cultivated more positivity that will not only stregthen my social relationship, my personality, mindset but also my health.

JC

Jul 2, 2018

One of the best psychology courses I have taken. I have learned so much and how simple it is to implement these principles into everyday life. Thank you for providing this rich material to all of us.

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1476 - 1500 of 1,729 Reviews for Positive Psychology

By S M

Aug 17, 2015

3

By Yotam L

Jun 17, 2017

I would like to thank Prof. Frederickson for a lovely course that provides a sound introduction to the subject. Her attitude and pleasantness goes a long way into making the case for positive psychology. The group as a whole provides diverse notions and feedback which is also broadening.

With this, there are several things that could be improved I believe. The quizzes could and should be more challenging, and formulated in a way to distinguish participants from non participants (often, the answers are too logical to be challenging).

i would urge more interactivity as much as possible, this allows engagement, and improves learning significantly. In previous courses we had assignments completed by the students, which were read and graded by the students of the course.

Finally, it would be extremely useful to have a venue to share not only thoughts and feedback, but also ideas for future research. Prof Frederickson, I think you will be positively surprised at the amount of innovation that could result from asking your students to come with research questions.

For example, my proposal would be to further explore, research, and teach about the effect of volunteering on one's well being and positivity status.

PS, i will be visiting Research Triangle on another business soon, and would be delighted to briefly meet and discuss some of these ideas.

Thank you, Yotam Levin, MD, MBA.

Israel

By Laurel L

Apr 12, 2016

I am just starting this course and finding the information clearly laid out; the slight difference of having a seminar group approach to presenting information from Dr. Frederickson (as opposed to the one 'talking head' approach of many courses) is fresh and new (though the colleagues are still a little 'stiff'... perhaps students rather than colleagues might have been interesting for us students, but I LOVE that her colleagues are committed to sharing in this learning!)

All in all, I expect I will probably re-rate this course a 5 star once I am further in to it.

I had taken the course 'A Lifetime of Happiness and Fulfillment' ALOHA-F) (see Indian School of Business) prior to this and recall Dr. Frederickson and her "Broaden-and-Build" Theory being sited. I absolutely LOVED the ALOHA-F course and I am very pleased to be able to find this course now as the last course made me want MORE!

Enjoy

By Theresa P C

Jun 19, 2016

I signed up for this course because I had read Martin Seligman's Learned Optimism and wanted to learn more about positive psychology. I would have liked this class to have gone more in depth in terms of the actual science and research involved (the studies Dr. Fredrickson refers to are for the most part only touched on briefly), and to have spent less time listening to the on-site students discussing their personal opinions (though I appreciated their insights, I would have liked to have learned more actual information).

I did get something out of the experiential activities. Although they are optional, I would recommend doing them to really get something out of the class. They allowed me to stop and think about things I may not have made the time for otherwise.

By Deborah B

Feb 26, 2016

This is a nice and easy course. The chat sessions were fun and interesting. The professor got me interested enough to continue on to Tibetan Meditation because she touched on some related topics. She tried to make it a worthwhile experience, which it was. There were good interviews and good supplemental material. This was very worthwhile. Its a positive touch when course leaders take the time to dress well and make a good visual impression, as they would in a "real" physical classroom. I think that positive psychology could be a slippery topic, hard to substantiate in a way, but it was a door opener for me. I felt like this was a fine introduction to this area of psychology, which, if understood correctly, is beginning to blossom.

By Andreas L

Oct 30, 2015

I found the presentation of the topic very convincing: I'll try to foster micro-moments of positivity resonance in the future and I am fully convinced that this will have a significant positive impact on my life.

The videos were good: not too long and each making a point. I'm not a big fan of the round table format, but I admit it was appropriate for the topic.

The only aspect where I see room for improvement is the type of assignments: the quiz was part of the course but the weekly exercise was not. It is maybe worthwhile to create some little assignments with a peer-review, to foster a deeper investment of the participants into the course.

By Gayathri

Aug 8, 2017

An insightful course! It opened our mind to the endless positive outcomes in terms of enhanced physical and emotional health that can be a result of the simple act of reaching out and connecting with others. Backed by scientific data and research-based facts, the course offered strategies to boost our positive connections, and revealed ‘love’ as a unifying, powerful emotion with different manifestations to it. The entire course radiated warmth and positivity from the main faculty and those who were interviewed. The assignments could be made more challenging in a scenario-based manner. Overall, it was a good experience. Thank you!

By Christopher P

Nov 17, 2023

I learned a lot, especially about the vagus nerve nad positivity resonance, though the use of concepts like happiness and joy and hope and love were far too simplistic, and there was never nuanced discussion of the many many variegated types of happiness and hope and joy and love. I felt very uncomfortable with the robotic meditative practice, like it was something from a 'Stepford' movie. Give me Walden Pond-like contemplation any day. But still, a worthwhile course. Beware of true believers, though - just because something is 'based on science,' as this is, does not at all mean it is always GOOD science.

By Edwina B

Jul 15, 2023

Found the course beneficial in my everyday life; the skills and tools highlighted are useful in creating a flourishing life. The only critiques: 1)updated research findings were missing; the most recent resources are already nearly 10 years old and 2) Dr. Fredrickson's video presentations, especially with her four panelists, included a distracting number of filler words, double clutches. I was initially distracted by them, but later learned to ignore them and concentrate on the text more. The information was beneficial and clear throughout. Overall, great course! Thank you!

By Erin K

Jan 30, 2016

Great class on the fundamentals of positive psychology that anyone can grasp...I have enjoyed learning about paying more attention to my own positive emotions and creating better mental habits...the course is not as attention grabbing as some others that I've come across...and for whatever reason, my awareness of Dr. Fredrickson looking more to the audience on the left (to her right) while lecturing, distracts me...an oddity of mine, I'm sure...nevertheless, I'm very grateful for the opportunities and learning provided in this course... thank you!

By Tony A Z

Nov 15, 2020

A very interesting course that will certainly help me in my psychology career.

The reason I haven't rated this course 5 stars is because from week 3 to 6, the course lacks scientific studies and research. The course did include many studies but this wasn't enough. Also, the way the information was presented could've been a bit more generous with the amount of theory presented. The videos could have been shorter since the information currently presented doesn't require a lot of explanation.

By Hillary M

Sep 10, 2015

I feel that the same monotone group of people, talking in a drab setting, was so monotonous it was difficult to keep focused on the lesson at hand. I know education is not supposed to be all zip, pow, bang, woah, and such, and I am not suggesting that it should be, but a little break from the drone tempo would be a nice addition. Other than that the course was on par and enjoyable. I liked the self meditative assignments most.

By FRANCO S N

Sep 21, 2020

It's a great course, the way the course is very good for understanding positive psychology and how to apply It for your health and for your life in general. I missed some things in the course: deeper knowledge, many more studies or maybe more readings, also, many of the readings or studies were done by the instructor, so It's only one perspective, would have love more insight about this and other researchers.

By Ellen W

Jun 11, 2016

Good class, knowledgeable professor. I would have preferred if some of the longer sessions (closer to 20 minutes) were split into two sessions. I didn't like the conversational style of this course, though, because it felt impersonal. It would have felt more personal to me if it had just been Dr. Fredericks on camera. I thought the session where Kelly Stacks was interviewed was worthwhile and good to include.

By Sheryl A

May 25, 2020

I liked how the instructor set up the lectures in a small group setting which allowed for dialogue and interaction. The lectures were at times a little slow, and I didn't find the individual interviews with the participants very informative; however, I liked learning about the psychology aspect and participating in the activities. Overall, the videos and assignments provided a positive learning experience.

By Thomas G

Dec 30, 2015

Very interesting course. Fairly interactive. The structure could have been better to make it clear what we had learnt and give us more of a take away after each week and at the end. Although there were a lot of academic links each week, the course didn't explore the differing perspectives and ideas, it was more focussed on Barbara's own theories. Definitely a good introduction and great personal learning!

By Drea D

Sep 4, 2016

I really enjoyed it. The only thing was I had to read the scripts on the videos in order to follow the thoughts and ideas because I'm used to read and understand faster than in the way you expressed the ideas. Other than that it was a great course. Very enlightening. And also gave me hope for psychology since most of whet we study at school is about problems and pathologies, never solutions.

By Peggy T

Feb 25, 2019

Numerous good intervention tools that we can use. I like the way how Barbara got 3 of her institute professional to be involved and share their personal insight and discuss on the topic. It will be great if we can also connect with the course tutor i.e. Barbara to ask and discuss more on the application as some of us may apply this at work and have deeper question to ask.

By Ravi B

Sep 16, 2015

This course is life changing! I listened to the book that Dr. Frederickson wrote called Positive Psychology on CD while I was taking the course and both of them put together gave me many strategies and scientific evidence of cultivating positive psychology and connection and the benefits. I would highly recommend this course to people looking to improve their lives.

By Sriramana M

Oct 17, 2020

IT'S A GREAT EYE OPENER FOR ME. IN OUR DAILY LIFE WE MISS MANY MICRO MOMENTS OF POSITIVITY, WHICH THIS COURSE ENABLE ME TO REALISE AND APPRECIATE.

HELP US TRANSLATE SECTION DEPICTS VERBATIM INSTEAD THE TRANSLATION SKIPS THE EXPRESSIONS AND REPEATED CONOTATIONS MADE BY THE SPEAKERS AND GIVES IN A PROPER TEXT MODE IT WILL BE OF GREAT HELP TO THE PARTICIPANTS.

By Petra Č

Oct 22, 2015

I really like this course. During my education, there wasn't much emphasis on positive psychology, and I think it's a shame because it seems like such an easy and enjoyable way to improve not only psychological, but also physical health. Only thing I would change- I would like the Course to be harder, in terms of quizzes. More facts about research and such.

By Veronica C

Aug 21, 2018

loved this course, a lot of information that some of us may know instinctually but when brought to the forefront of our mind makes a great impact.

The professor Dr. Barbara was incredibly knowledgeable and presented the information in a group setting so you will hear other views regarding particular studies etc.

Very interactive. You must do to really learn

By Amos L

Oct 22, 2021

Enjoyed the course - it exposes you to an alternate perspective of psychology, and even positive psychology.

One thing I wish would change - the Losada ratio has been largely discredited in positive psychology. Hence, I hope that the course content will reflect that, and not share about the concept as though it were still a well-established fact.

By Choo B L C

May 25, 2020

This is a good introductory course for positive psychology. I grasped a broad perspective of what positive psychology is. However, I hold back a bit on the segment on loving-kindness meditation, as it is linked with a different faith tradition with mine. Other than that, I enjoyed the whole course and learned well. Thanks.

By Maria L O R

May 23, 2020

Thanks for the course, I really enjoyed it and learned many things that now are part of my daily life such as Micro moments, be focused to identify neutral moment, others matter, new love concept, eye contact, connect with others, positive emotions impact in life, positive emotion priorization, positivity ratio...