Running head: COPING WITH MAJOR STRESSORS IN GRADUATE SCHOOL

Coping with Major Stressors in Graduate School

Yichen Shao

Bingrui Wang

Qianying Zhang

University of Pennsylvania

COPING WITH MAJOR STRESSORS IN GRADUATE SCHOOL 2

PART ONE: TRAINING DESIGN

Table of Contents
Introduction of Training .................................................................................................................... 3
Design Components ............................................................................................................................. 3
Needs Assessment and Result ..................................................................................................................... 3
Agenda and Techniques/Activities/Materials ..................................................................................... 4
Group Norms .................................................................................................................................................... 5
PGOs .................................................................................................................................................................... 5
Methodology .................................................................................................................................................... 5
Target Audience .............................................................................................................................................. 6
Evaluation and Follow-up ............................................................................................................................ 6

Logistical Considerations ................................................................................................................... 6

Appendix ................................................................................................................................................. 8
Appendix A ........................................................................................................................................................ 8
Appendix B ...................................................................................................................................................... 10
Appendix C ....................................................................................................................................................... 19
Appendix D ..................................................................................................................................................... 21
Appendix E ....................................................................................................................................................... 22
Appendix F ....................................................................................................................................................... 24
Appendix G ...................................................................................................................................................... 25
Appendix H ...................................................................................................................................................... 26

COPING WITH MAJOR STRESSORS IN GRADUATE SCHOOL 3

Introduction of Training: As graduate students we need to cope with a great deal of

stress from many different aspects of life such as schoolwork, part-time jobs, postgraduate plans,
career prospects, financial situations and interpersonal relationships. As supported by decades of
research in the medical and psychological fields, stress has been known for affecting peoples
body, feelings, thoughts and behaviors negatively and thus needs to be tackled properly for
students to thrive in graduate school. While we cannot remove the big stressors from our lives,
we can adjust the way we perceive and react to these events in order to maintain a healthy and
productive lifestyle.
Design Components:
Needs Assessment and Result:
In order to customize our training to the requirements of our prospective participants and
thus maximize the effectiveness of the training, we designed a needs analysis that was able to
help us gain a concrete understanding of the relationship between our participants and their
respective stressors in life. The needs assessment results played a very important role in
narrowing down the scope of our facilitation and providing information that is useful for our
specific target group.

COPING WITH MAJOR STRESSORS IN GRADUATE SCHOOL 4

On the needs assessment, participants were asked to assess their current level of stress
holistically and all of our participants indicated that they were experiencing at least moderate
stress with more than half of them indicating considerable to unbearable stress. Job/Career
Prospects, Schoolwork and Interpersonal Relationships were ranked the top three sources of
stress. Eighty-five percent of the participants said that they would consciously cope with stress
and named Venting to People They Trust, Hibernation, Drinking/Overeating/Smoking, Taking
Baths and Exercise as their most frequently-used stress-coping strategies.
Agenda and Techniques/Activities/Materials:
The workshop starts with an energizer (10 minutes) that is meant to give the participants
the opportunity to experience stress. The energizer consists of three rounds of trivia game and
each round is played by four representatives from all four tables. Since the answers that the
representatives give will determine whether or not their table wins the game, we imagine that the
competition will induce a tense and stressful atmosphere among the participants. The energizer is
followed by a whole class discussion, which later transitions into small group discussions on the
major stressors that the participants are currently experiencing in their lives (5 minutes).
After the group discussion, a lecturette on the theoretical aspects of stress and coping is
introduced (25 minutes). Participants are provided with an index handout with the definitions and
pictures of the technical terminologies mentioned throughout the lecturette (See Appendix A).
Facilitators walk the participants through the physiological definition of stress, consequences of
stress, and perception of class with a PowerPoint presentation (See Appendix B), after which
participants are asked to fill out the Cohen Perceived Stress Scale (See Appendix C). When
participants are finished, they use their individual score to find a corresponding spot on the
barometer and are able to compare their perceived stress level by looking around on the
barometer.
The lecturette continues with a new focus on the mental and physical consequences of
failing to cope with stress properly. A cross-cultural perspective on stress that links the idea of
locus of control with coping follows and participants are asked to reflect on their own stress-
coping behaviors in terms of internal or external locus of control in a whole class discussion.
The lecturette reiterates the importance of facing stress head on and participants are asked
to share their preferred stress-reduction techniques. The facilitator collects the answers and
divide them into positive strategies that are healthy and effective and negative strategies that are
dangerous and destructive. Further details about the common stress-coping strategies are then
provided and explained. In the meantime, participants can refer to the step-by-step tutorials of
perception-based coping strategies (See Appendix E).
After the lecturette, the facilitators demonstrate three stress-coping strategies that target
three different stress-inducing graduate school scenarios, one by one. The first scenario, which
corresponds to the Schoolwork stressor, is that students have been working on a big project
with their groups in a study room in the library all day and feel very stressed out. The facilitators
then provides a recommended solution, which is GBTC, the morning exercise routine in China
and lead the group to try it out (10 minutes). Participants are later asked about how they feel
COPING WITH MAJOR STRESSORS IN GRADUATE SCHOOL 5

about the exercise and given the opportunity to connect the activity with the previous theoretical
information to think about the possible reasons why doing GBTC can help the lower stress levels
of students in this scenario (5 minutes).
The second and the third scenarios are conducted in the same format. The second
scenario, which corresponds to the Job/Career Prospects stressor, is that students feel anxious
because of their upcoming job interview (10 minutes). Coloring is recommended as the
appropriate coping strategy and the same brainstorming and discussion process follows (5
minutes). The third scenario, which corresponds to the interpersonal Relationships stressor, is
that students have some interpersonal problems that really bother them but they do not want to
talk to anyone about such problems. The facilitators introduce meditation as an effective way to
deal with stress in this scenario and guide participants through a meditation session with music
and scented candles (15 minutes).
The training ends with a wrap-up right after the meditation when participants are still in
the state of relaxation. Participants share what their biggest takeaways are from the training and
how they plan to use the coping techniques they learn in their business lives (5 minutes).
Group Norms:
Since the causes of stress vary from person to person and many of such causes can be too
private for the participants to feel comfortable sharing with the rest of the group, the facilitators
establish that the participants are in a safe space where they do not need to disclose any
information about themselves if they do not feel like doing so. When questions are left
unanswered in whole class discussions, the facilitators do not try to pose any pressure on the
participants to answer the questions. Stress is also likely to trigger depressive or anxious
responses among participants. Thus it is of critical importance for the facilitators to reassure the
participants that they are more than welcome to take a deep breath and recollect themselves
whenever they need to. The participants are reminded by the facilitators of these two group
norms throughout the entire workshop.
PGOs:
Purpose: we want to help the participants to perform at a more productive level by better
managing the stress they experience in their lives.
Goals: the goal of our workshop encompasses all three design components (Pfeiffer,
1994). Knowledge (K): to enhance the participants knowledge of the different sources and
forms of stress and its consequences. Awareness (A): to help the participants better understand
their stress levels. Skills (S): to introduce stress management strategies.
Objectives: The participants can see how much stress they are experiencing on an
analytical scale.The participants can name one or two negative consequences of failing to cope
with stress.The participants can judge whether or not some commonly used stress management
strategies are good. The participants can describe the phases of a recommended stress-reduction
activity. The participants can choose an appropriate strategy for different occasions and
purposes.
Methodology:
The foundation of the workshop design stems from the Lewinian Experiential Learning
Model, which emphasizes the conflict between concrete experience and abstract concepts (Kolb,
COPING WITH MAJOR STRESSORS IN GRADUATE SCHOOL 6

1983). Given that the idea of stress is relatively abstract, we believe it is appropriate to draw on
the participants concrete experience so that stress as an abstract concept can be felt and the
stress-managing information we provide can be tested and validated. The scope of the workshop
is narrowed down to the graduate school setting, which is a common experience shared by all of
our target participants in their real lives. The scenario practices are also developed based on the
three major stressors that graduate students identify with, to provide a concrete, shared reference
point for the participants to make associations between the theoretical or technical information
provided to them inside the training space and the practical situations that they face outside the
training space.
The specific techniques and activities used in the workshop follow the Kolbs
Experiential Learning Cycle and attend to the needs of individuals with different learning styles
(Kolb, 1983). The energizer designed to create a stressful atmosphere provide the participants
with concrete experience. The participants gain a better understanding of how much perceived
stress they are under in comparison to others through reflectively observing their spots and their
surroundings during the barometer activity. While the lecturette is loaded with abstract
information, real-life examples are given and reflective questions are asked to help the
participants digest and conceptualize the theoretical concepts. Through the three scenarios, the
participants are able to engage in active experimentation and experience the stress-reduction
techniques themselves.
Target Audience:
Our target audience is the graduate student population at any higher education institution
in the United States. Students are typically over 21 years old and are from different disciplines
and various cultural backgrounds. Each training can serve 16-20 graduate students. English is
used as the medium of instruction and communication.
Evaluation and Follow-up:
Participants are asked to fill out a stress-related knowledge self-assessment composed of
two columns for before and after the training (See Appendix F). On the self-assessment,
participants will grade themselves on eight areas related to stress and coping using a five-point
scale, from novice to master. The pre-training and post-training results serve as an evaluative
measure that informs the facilitators of which areas of knowledge/understanding are improved
because of the training among participants and which ones are not. The evaluation results can be
traced to their respective training parts and provide insights on what went well and what went
wrong.
A list of resources used in the training, such as the GBTC video link, coloring sheets and
meditation scripts is provided for the participants to explore (See Appendix G). Extra
information on stress management services that are available on campus is also given to
participants as on the same page for future references
Logistical Considerations:
As the participants enter the room, the facilitators stand on both sides of the entrance to
greet them. The participants then follow the seating setup on the screen and find their spots.
COPING WITH MAJOR STRESSORS IN GRADUATE SCHOOL 7

Once everyone is settled, the three facilitators will be in front of the participants and take turns
introducing themselves. One of the facilitators, Ray, walks to the right-hand side of the front wall
and goes over the agenda and objectives up on the wall with the participants, while the other two
facilitators, Jenny and Yichen, step back to stand against the side wall so that the participants can
focus on the presenter and do not have their vision blocked.
When the energizer starts, four chairs are pulled to the center of the room. Jenny stands
next to the computer in front of the four chairs to manipulate the PowerPoint slides while Yichen
uses the left side of the front wall to keep scores for the trivia game providing a clear update of
the game. Ray walks to the table to draw names out of the four cups and walks back to the side
wall after she reads aloud the drawn names before each round starts. In each round, four
participants whose names are called come up to sit in the four chairs in the middle of the room to
play the game, facing the screen. When three rounds are over, all participants return to their seats
and start group discussions. During group discussions, Yichen and Ray each approach two tables
to see if they have any questions so no table will be approached more than once. When the whole
class discussion starts, Yichen writes down the keywords of the participants responses on the
left-hand side of the front wall. The keywords serve as the personal data from the participants,
which the facilitators can refer back to throughout the workshop in order to personalize the
training and maximize its effectiveness.
During the lecturette, the three facilitators take turns to stand next to the computer to
present and the two facilitators not presenting stand next to the side wall. Yichen stands in front
of the screen to provide participants with visual guidance by using her hand to follow the shape
of the diagram. When the participants receive their final scores on the Cohen Perceived Stress
Scale, they are instructed to use the score to find a spot on the barometer set up in front the four
tables in the middle of the classroom, with Jenny and Ray each standing at one end of the
barometer. A PowerPoint slide that demonstrates the high, medium and low marks on the
barometer is projected on the screen as guidance for the participants to see. The participants are
asked to look around, share their reactions and then go back to their seats.
When the GBTC exercise starts, the participants are asked to push their chairs to the
walls, spread out in the space in front of their tables and follow the movements of Yichen and
Jenny who are standing in front of the screen. Ray stays next to the computer to control the
GBTC video. The participants return to their seats after the exercise and remain in their seats
throughout the coloring scenario. When the meditation exercise is introduced, all participants
gather in the center of the room again and this time, they sit on the floor in one big circle with
two lighted candles placed in the middle of the circle. The workshop ends with the facilitators
and participants sitting intimately in the big circle to make the participants feel safe about
sharing their final thoughts and ideas.