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Learner Reviews & Feedback for The Science of Well-Being by Yale University

4.9
stars
37,282 ratings

About the Course

NEW TEEN VERSION AVAILABLE HERE: https://www.coursera.org/learn/the-science-of-well-being-for-teens In this course you will engage in a series of challenges designed to increase your own happiness and build more productive habits. As preparation for these tasks, Professor Laurie Santos reveals misconceptions about happiness, annoying features of the mind that lead us to think the way we do, and the research that can help us change. You will ultimately be prepared to successfully incorporate a specific wellness activity into your life. THE SCIENCE OF WELL BEING WAS PRODUCED IN PART DUE TO THE GENEROUS FUNDING OF THE DAVID F. SWENSEN FUND FOR INNOVATION IN TEACHING....

Top reviews

LG

Apr 21, 2023

Magnificent!

Clear and concise revelations about the human condition, how to understand the tricky nature of our minds and practical advice about how to counteract those deceptions.

Marvellous.!

LH

Aug 21, 2020

Great fun way of learning about personal thought processing, attitudes and well-being.

Very helpful course to get me to assess my life and how to make the changes I needed to improve my well-being.

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301 - 325 of 10,000 Reviews for The Science of Well-Being

By Silvana M C

Jul 24, 2019

In my opinion the teacher kept the same pace and voice, which made the course a little boring.

By Oliver C

Sep 16, 2020

Content pretty boring and only somewhat helpful

By Jeremy P C

Mar 28, 2020

Nothing new as far as the educational approach. A nice compilation of data. Peer Review Assignment at the end left a lot to be desired. No quality feedback, real one on one with the educator due to the sheer volume/magnitude of the course. Guest videos were almost like salesmen with their published data.

By Muireann N R

Aug 4, 2020

I found a lot of it to be common knowledge and not the sort of wellbeing I was hoping for. I'm glad I've completed it but I didn't enjoy the lectures. I found them too clinical in terms of research and I found the lecturer too casual in her approach.

By Deleted A

Mar 7, 2021

This course is so messed up , why is it that a person have to pay for a certificate when they stated that the courses are free

By Joyce U

Dec 31, 2020

I t became confusing. The professor talked to fast.. never pausing. Nonstop.

By Deleted A

Sep 26, 2020

oh esta en ingles

By Rebeca R D S

May 21, 2020

Ola boa tarde, eu gostaria de fazer uma solicitação, pois eu ainda não consigo classificar bem o curso pela dificuldade que estou tendo no entendimento do idioma, e possível trocar minha plataforma do curso de inglês para português ( pergunta). Mas se não for possível mudar idioma eu gostaria de ter o dinheiro do curso de volta. Mas eu prefiro que sera trocado para português para que eu possa fazer e ter bom proveito do curso. Obrigada.

Meu email, cantorarebecarabello@gmail.com.

By Wendy M

Mar 23, 2021

Much of the course material contained typos or grammatical errors. The first quiz was incorrect. Much of the material was outdated or incorrectly interpreted. I went through the first five weeks of the course and learned nothing but some jargon with no real-world application.

By Allison S T

Apr 13, 2020

I can't do some stuff from my cellphone and my password won't let me log in from my computer. Even when I reset from my phone it still won't let me reset. It just takes me back to the course.

By Ethan T

Sep 6, 2020

It's stupid to allow others to determine my grade based on the information I put in. This has got to be, hands down, the worst grading system they could ever implement in a course.

By Черкис Я А

Oct 23, 2020

зачем русские субтитры на виднео, если всё остальное - теория, задания и проверочные тесты на английском? это курс по английскому языку?

By Epic M

May 1, 2022

I am not used to tutors being that easy going. Felt more like an instagram influencer livestreaming than a professor teaching.

By Erica S

Jun 5, 2021

I thought this course was to help persons but the way the work is been rendered to us its very depressing

By Cristian A L

Apr 9, 2020

Esta todo en ingles, no puedo ver los videos traducidos al Español

By Teron E N B

Apr 8, 2021

Not enough interactive learning

By Catherine A

Mar 17, 2021

Very biased and basic

By Raviprakash G

Nov 26, 2020

BAD

By Jane G

Jun 17, 2020

For a long time, I have been struggling in the whirlpool of negative thoughts. It is basically a negative idea when I encounter something uncomfortable, so that I am very afraid of being leisure, I feel that life has been pushed forward, rarely feeling in control of life. Maybe I am too sensitive? I feel that I must hold the railing when I walk down the stairs, worrying that I might step on the ground and fall.Over the years, I have tried various methods to ease negative thinking, which is somewhat effective, but it is good and bad. Now I can only be at home due to COIVD-19, maybe this is God's Intervention, then I can have more time to face the depths of my soul. I just saw this course on the website after spending a few days in isolation at home. Experience of years have enabled me to understand that practice and action are far more important than knowing the theory, despite facing inertia and laziness from time to time.Looking at my own records of rewirement for around two months, Basically, all rewirements--savoring, dailygratitude journal, random acts of kindness, social connection, exercise, sleep, meditation, and gratitude letter/visit-- have continued to do now. I found that the best performing is savoring, the worst is random acts of kindness. What has formed a habit is exercise.What needs to be improved is social connection and daily gratitude.

There was no clear execution plan at the beginning. It was not until two weeks ago that I saw the theory of individual development plan(IDP) which I realized that I still continued the arbitrariness of the past. Fortunately, I have a habit of recording slowly. At the same time, recording will also promote my own reflection and progress, so I stumbled on and persevered. Generally, every Monday, there is a goal to be achieved in a week and the corresponding plan. I will look at the records to detect the deficiencies in the process. This somehow makes up for my shortcomings of arbitrariness and inertia.

Through the record, I realized that if the plan was completed and it was calculated by ten points, I probably reached about seven points. Fortunately, when I am at home, I have enough time. If I have been busy in the past, I’m afraid my best is half of it. Comparing the scores of the questionnaire at the beginning and the present, and the slowly-perceived changes in mood in daily life, this course brings many good effects, specially savoring pleasures at present moment, doing meditation often. I have less anxiety. To quote the following, encourage those who are interested in Well-Being to move forward together.

Savor pleasures and live in the present moment

Make physical activity a habit

Are deeply committed to meaningful goals

Are often the first to help others

Nurture and enjoy social relationships

Are comfortable expressing gratitude

Practice optimism about future

We can take deliberate control of how we act and think through intentional activity.

From: Lyubomirsky(2001); Diener et al.(1999); Myers(2000), Diener & Lucas(1999); Argyle(1999).

By Timothy M

Apr 19, 2021

This course exceeded my expectations beyond belief.

After losing my younger cousin unexpectedly and then my best friend to suicide, I lost meaning and purpose in my life. As a result, I became treatment resistant to my mental health medications.

As if that weren't enough, my new business collapsed due to the unforeseen travesty that is COVID-19. The implausible idea of an actual global pandemic striking during our lifetime had suddenly become very real, very quick.

My 2 other independent contract positions that I was working to supplement my main income and hold me afloat as my business grew would shortly follow suit.

I began experiencing financial hardship, nearly got evicted from my residence and battled other obstacles...yes, there were others.

And this all happened in six months.

There were many months of deep hopelessness, helplessness and darkness that I won't get into. But then I came across The Science of Wellbeing.

This course reminded me of what it took in the past to want to get out of bed in the morning. It taught me to feel important--not even to others, but to myself. To practice kindness to others, even when the world hasn't been so kind to me. And so, so much more.

One of the greatest learning points for me is that we're wrong. We're human and we're so very wrong. Wrong about what we think we want and what we think will make us happy. Our intuitions are often wrong and the science corroborates it! This is something I really needed to see, to read and to become aware of right at this time in my life.

I really wasn't sure what to expect with this course or if I'd get anything at all out of it. I was skeptical, but had a little piece of hope because, honestly, nothing else was working for me. And I'm so glad that I did.

Since the start of this course and as it progressed, I decided to actively continue working on medication management and have since found a couple that are starting to help immensely.

I've rebuilt relationships with important people in my life.

I feel valuable most days.

I found the motivation to apply for a nationwide scholarship to attend the AAS21 conference hosted by the American Association of Suicidology.

...and won.

I now get to attend in my best friend, Mikey's, honor and use the knowledge I'll gain to help others who are hurting, since Mikey no longer can.

Professor Laurie Santos, you've not only made this course one of the most interesting and valuable courses I've ever taken, but created something so brilliant and life-changing. You've turned my life back around. You've ignited the spark in me that I thought went totally out.

And I thank you so very much.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Thank you to Yale University, as well!

And thank you to Coursera!

Take this course everyone!

By Dr S

May 23, 2020

Hi Laura!

Am Suryakumari, halfway through the Course, The Science of Well Being, that you are handling so well. Being a fellow Prof, I can gauge each and every aspect that has been painstakingly included to make the Course heavy on content and yet seemingly light. Your presentation with the accompanying smile in the videos is the charmer! Keep Smiling!!

I would like to share the way am doing the Rewirements. Presently am on Week 3.

Am a 55 year old, a Life Skills Coach in addition to being an Economics Prof. These rewirements are an everyday process, not bragging..hope you can understand what am saying.. given my profession and age:)

My only problem, I am unable to categorize and do only one act of rewiring week-wise as prescribed.

In order to keep track and make note, I created an excel with categories (as Kindness, Savoring, Gratitude and Social Connection) and dates. Am describing the act in the table and made an extra column called 'Happiness Meter' and giving it a scale of 1-5. Lockdown started for me from Mar 15th, hence I made another sheet for that month calling it 'Lockdown Rewirements' although I started this Course only from Apr 12th.

Unable to attach the template here..can mail it if you let me know how. I have shared it in the Discussion Forum for others to use, if they like it.

All I need is to make a journal entry and categorize. I found this more interesting than marking circles on the given worksheet. Am sure this will be fun to maintain after the course completion, and will serve as a wake up call to be good, do good and feel good all through, not just during the Course. It will be nice to read this later as my Rewirements Diary!!

With nudges provided in the lectures, started a 'Recollections Project' with my 84 year old mom, who is a cancer survivor and has restricted mobility at home due to osteoarthritis. She's regaling us with childhood stories of her 13 siblings!!! Phase 2 will be us, her children:)

Thank you for the great Course you are conducting. All the Best. Stay safe, be Happy!!

The above was written much earlier. Now I have completed the Course. I did extremely great on bringing down Loneliness factor pre to post course scores. That shows how connected I felt with everyone ib the Course. Gonna miss this! This was my stress buster, really.

P.S: It would be a full circle if you can include the role of relationships in well being. Irrespective of the n number of rewirements one does, if there is the presence of a bully, dominant or abusive person in one's life, be it a parent, sibling, partner or colleague/boss at work, it affects well being and self esteem very badly. Moving out of the relationship may not always be possible. Hope you consider this aspect. Thank you.

By Markus L

Sep 5, 2020

My initial aim was and my motivation during the course has been getting some feeling of studying in a Yale class. This corresponds pretty good with Dr. Laurie Santos aim of her Welcome Letter: “To make the lectures feel more intimate, we filmed at my home in one of Yale’s residential colleges with a small group of Yale students in the audience … We understand that many of you taking the course are not currently college students, but we hope you see yourselves as though you are part of this virtual classroom.”

Despite the fact that I´m about 50 years old I have the unexplainable cheesy wish to study at Yale University. I would like to be merged in the on-campus life with all experiences at least for a short term. Living in a residential college with a roommate and having access to all facilities like the gym and libraries. For those who want to get a feeling for what dream I have there are two awesome image films available at YouTube which give a great impression (“That´s Why I Chose Yale” and “That´s Why I Toured Yale”).

Taking this daydream into account it is easy understandable that I enjoyed all the video lectures that were produced in the awesome surrounding of the Master´s House of Sillimann College. It is some kind of wellness for the eyes seeing Laurie Santos sitting in this beautiful flower pattern wing chair. This set of optical attraction prepared my mind for sucking in the content of all lectures. For me as it is probably for many others too not only the contend counts it is also important how the content is provided like good arranged food in a nice ambient versus eating the same food in a takeaway box while riding the overcrowded NYC Subway.

Another reason why I have enjoyed the course during the last 10 weeks is that I have deeply savored practicing all study work in English. Reading, listening and writing as I do right now. It is a fantastic and satisfying activity for me as none native speaker experiencing the capability of being able to fully participate in an English class at Yale. Here it is the same as it is described with the beautiful environment above. I am not that focused on the aim reaching more well-being at the end of the course for me there has already been well-being conducting the course. I have been challenged and in flow.

Along with the above mentioned it is obviously that the content of the course has connected me with my real wishes and values which is a good start to continue a long lasing journey.

I couldn´t have made a better choice than taking “The Science of Well-Being”. A big thank you to Dr. Laurie Santos and all of the crew which created and produced this awesome online course, well done!

By Md M K

Jun 19, 2023

The science of well-being, also known as positive psychology, is a fascinating and rapidly growing field of study that has the potential to transform the way we think about human flourishing. At its core, positive psychology seeks to understand what makes people happy and fulfilled in life, and to develop evidence-based strategies that can enhance well-being.

One of the key insights of positive psychology is that happiness and well-being are not just a matter of luck or genetics, but are also heavily influenced by our thoughts, behaviors, and social environments. Researchers in this field have identified a range of factors that contribute to well-being, including positive emotions, social relationships, a sense of purpose, and a strong sense of personal resilience.

One of the strengths of the science of well-being is its emphasis on empirical research and evidence-based practices. Researchers in this field use a variety of methods, including surveys, experiments, and neuroimaging studies, to understand the factors that contribute to well-being and to develop interventions that can promote positive change.

Some of the most promising interventions developed in the science of well-being include practices such as gratitude journaling, mindfulness meditation, and acts of kindness. These practices have been shown to improve mood, reduce stress, and promote greater resilience and well-being.

Overall, the science of well-being offers a hopeful and optimistic perspective on human experience, suggesting that we have the capacity to cultivate happiness and well-being in our own lives and in the lives of those around us. While there is still much to learn in this field, the insights and practices developed in the science of well-being have the potential to transform our understanding of human flourishing and to promote greater well-being and happiness for individuals and communities.

By MKHRumi

Mar 16, 2022

To tell the truth this journey throughout the course “Sciene of Well-Being” was an amazing experience to me. This course has unveiled a vast world of unknown psychological facts which opened my inner eyes. I learned how we can improve our own happiness and overall well-being by building certain positive habits, putting strategies into practice and following them as rituals. It is really not that easy to grow a habit and most of us don’t know there are ways to do this. Every one of us want to be happy in life. Deploying a little effort by building these habits, we can achieve that happiness. This course has triggered my wish to be happy by teaching me the skills it requires.

Yes I am savoring on this expedition and I express my sincerest Gratitude to Professor Laurie for widening my knowledge through her amazing lectures. Her friendly and in detail presentation made my journey an outstanding eye-opening experience.

To tell the truth this journey throughout the course “Sciene of Well-Being” was an amazing experience to me. This course has unveiled a vast world of unknown psychological facts which opened my inner eyes. I learned how we can improve our own happiness and overall well-being by building certain positive habits, putting strategies into practice and following them as rituals. It is really not that easy to grow a habit and most of us don’t know there are ways to do this. Every one of us want to be happy in life. Deploying a little effort by building these habits, we can achieve that happiness. This course has triggered my wish to be happy by teaching me the skills it requires.

Yes I am savoring on this expedition and I express my sincerest Gratitude to Professor Laurie for widening my knowledge through her amazing lectures. Her friendly and in detail presentation made my journey an outstanding eye-opening experience.

By Thi H A D

Oct 14, 2023

I started this course somewhere in August 2023, and after 3 months (partially) taking the tactics into daily practice, I could see the effects of it within myself without revisiting my pre-course assessment to know if I'm actually happier. I can feel more clarity in the mind, more contentment and most importantly, the realization of everything I need to be happy is already here. I realize I might not see them before, but all resources I need to achieve what I want have always been here for me and I should be grateful for that. The thing I did practice the most is "exercise" ( in my own term it was "doing physical activities", not solely exercise because I prefer something more feasible for me such as going outside for a walk with my dog, so that I can engage in moving my body while connecting with "someone" I care about (my lovely doggie). In order to make "engaging in a physical activity" a habit, I also apply "WOOP" method, as my mind sometimes creates boundaries by prioritizing other tasks to not exercise daily. So I imagined the wonderful effects of physical activities to my body, the happiness of my dog to be outside instead of laying on the couch and also create tactics to overcome my mental blocks in regards to this. I also add this activity to my gratitude list (in my own term it's also a list of "things made me happy today" or "things I'm proud of myself today") so it motivates me to keep going. During the period of attending this course, I had to encounter a new health issue which now when I look back, I'm even more grateful for that because I helped me learn to love my body and also to rewire my thoughts and habits. If it hadn't been for me attending this course, I might have been more miserable suffering that issue :). Kudos to Prof. Laurie and the task forces behind this project!