University of Delaware faculty members are invited to participate in the six-week program Mindfulness in Education, Teaching, Assessment and Learning (METAL).

According to Michael Mackenzie, assistant professor of health behavior science and director of the Mind Body Behavior Laboratory, mindfulness is impartial present-moment focused attention and awareness.

During the METAL workshops, participants will learn and practice mindfulness skills that can help them improve their attention and reduce stress.

The Department of Behavioral Health and Nutrition (BHAN) and Center for Teaching and Assessment of Learning (CTAL) are collaborating to deliver the program, and Mackenzie is providing the mindfulness-based program for faculty development.

Faculty can use the skills they learn in METAL in and out of the classroom and can share these skills with their students.

METAL will take place on campus from 4-5 p.m. every Wednesday from Feb. 15 to March 22.

Those interested in participating should be either faculty or those who instruct in the classroom in some capacity. For more details and to register for this program, contact research coordinator Alexis Mattei at amattei@udel.edu.

Mackenzie has instructed two previous mindfulness workshops at UD. The first was Mindful Employee and Occupational Wellness (MEOW), a six-week program hosted by the BHAN and UD Employee Health and Wellness. Participant feedback suggested mindfulness programs be further targeted specifically to the unique needs of UD faculty.

In response to the enthusiastic feedback, Mackenzie held the first six-week METAL program in the fall 2016 semester.

METAL participants engage in exercises of breathing, movement and contemplation in order to help them sustain attention on present experience. Ultimately, participants will be able to use mindfulness to foster student engagement and reduce stress.

While data collection for the METAL program is ongoing, a participant from the previous MEOW program said, “I knew nothing about what it [mindfulness] is, how it might help, or how it really worked. You guys gave me a foundational knowledge of what it is and how it might help. What permutations there are of it, you know, tips for integrating it into my life were really valuable: resources, websites, things like that. But my biggest takeaway was it [mindfulness] is a potential tool. It’s not something that is mysterious to me anymore. It’s a viable tool I can use going down the road.”

Participants will receive a $10 gift certificate for each METAL workshop they attend. They can receive additional $10 gift certificates by submitting a pre- and post-program survey and by participating in a 15-minute exit interview.

For best results, full commitment to the six-week program is preferred. “Learning these skills is an iterative process and, like any training, takes time to develop and foster results,” said Mackenzie, adding, “We see a six-week introduction as just that, an introduction to beginning to cultivating these skills.”