Happiness! The Psychology of What Makes Life Worth Living

​All-Gender Course; ​Fall semester or Full-year course
COURSE DESCRIPTION
There’s a lot of pressure on young adults to “discover their passions” and “live lives of purpose.” Why? Because we want people to be happy and whole, which are states of being that have to be cultivated. Positive psychology is the scientific study of what makes life most worth living (Peterson, 2008), so understanding the traits and actions that lead to wellbeing and fulfillment are the focus of this class. Students collaboratively explore the building blocks of thriving, including research into gratitude, strengths theory, and the role played by positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and achievement (PERMA) in the development of lasting wellbeing. Throughout the first term, students engage in a series of positive activity interventions designed to give them a sense of how the theories can be applied to their own lives, and at the end of their study students create a podcast explaining how they have come to define and explain happiness for themselves. 
WHAT STUDENTS SAY

"I'm proud to say that I have established a pathway to improve my overall wellbeing and happiness. I learned about the "traps," what gets in my way when I pursue happiness and how to avoid them. Specifically, I now understand that happiness is composed of elements beyond materialistic values, such as wealth, money, or social status - things that I associated with being happy before taking this course. I'm particularly intrigued by the subjects of gratitude and meaning of life ... I couldn't emphasize enough how the weekly Gratitude Project has changed my perspective. I learned to seek happiness in the service of others, to appreciate every good thing that happens to me, regardless how small or big they are. "

"Through this course, I have been inspired to help others become the best and happiest versions of themselves. I really loved learning about my character strengths and how to use them because it really gave me an idea of how I should be doing life. I have enjoyed this course so much, and I wish I could take it again."

WHAT STUDENTS DO
Learning is an active process at One Schoolhouse. Students design, create and apply. And, they engage with classmates and connect with their teachers through discussions, video conferences, and projects. Specifically, in this class students will:
  • Set goals that drive their learning. Students reflect regularly on their growth, and meet on video chat with their online teacher to review progress towards their goals.
  • Have choice in how they learn new content and practice new skills. Students are given agency to determine the best ways for them to learn.
  • Apply what they are learning to the real world. Learning is meaningful and connects to concepts outside the classroom.
  • Practice constructive engagement in a diverse and changing world. Students interact with classmates from across the country and around the world.
  • Gain academic maturity. Online learning takes greater discipline and independence than a traditional face-to-face classroom. Teachers support students to build this skill.
WHAT HAPPENS IN THE SECOND SEMESTER?
Students wishing to pursue a positive psychology project may enroll in the course for the full year. For students continuing into Semester II, the course shifts into personalized, project-based work, where students engage in deep, sustained inquiry; authentic and iterative research; critical analysis; and rigorous reflection, revision, and assessment as they journey through a self-designed, long-term activism, design, or research project on the topic of their choosing. Guided by a One Schoolhouse teacher, students pursue individual study/self-assessment or collaborative seminar/peer-review. Pathway options from which students choose include:
  • Spring Activism Seminar: In this seminar, students identify a need and create a plan to effect economic, environmental, political, or social change in a target community.  Utilizing a social science approach to research and evaluation, students are guided through the process of planning the deployment of a novel idea and identifying markers of success.  Students may create a strategic plan for a club or non-profit or design an artistic product in this seminar. 
  • Spring Design Seminar:  In this seminar, students design a technological solution to a real-world problem.  Through the engineering design process/scientific method, students gather and analyze data to determine the effectiveness of their model or the accuracy of their hypothesis.  Students may prototype and produce a public product in this seminar. 
  • Spring Research Seminar:  In this seminar, students answer a theoretical or ethical question.  Utilizing the social science/humanities tools for source evaluation, students collect, critique, and evaluate artifacts or primary source documents to explore their thesis.  Students may create a written or multimedia product in this seminar. 

Upon completion of their inquiry-driven project, students will have gained academic maturity and expanded their ability to engage in a diverse and changing world. They will be able to draw and defend conclusions from theoretical underpinnings, contextual background, and mathematical analysis or source evaluation. Finally, they will have created and tested something useful of their own design or will be able to defend a position based on their own research.​
MEET A TEACHER FOR THIS COURSE
SIGNATURE ACTIVITIES
Examples of signature activities and projects for this course are:
  • Strengths Profile - using tools developed by the University of Pennsylvania, students will develop a unique Strengths Profile and use it as a guide for determining a personal map towards thriving
  • The 30 - Day Habits Challenge - over the course of thirty days, students will engage in a research - validated activity and determine its effect on their sense of wellbeing
  • The Gratitude Project - each week throughout the course, students will practice gratitude and explore its effects on their relationships and their happiness
  • The Happiness Podcast - as a culminating project drawing from their own experience and independent research, students will create and produce a podcast that charts their own understanding of the path towards happiness.
COURSE APPROVAL
This course is approved by the NCAA. ​

One Schoolhouse is fully accredited with the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges through December 1, 2025; we are an approved online publisher for the University of California. ​
Rebecca Plona
she/her/hers
Social Sciences Teacher
AB Middlebury College 
MEd Boston University
MA Vermont College