How Character Strengths Facilitate Learning Actions and Enhance Well-Being: An Action Research on Three University Students

Abstract Book of the 11th International Conference on Research in Teaching and Education

Year: 2026

[PDF]

How Character Strengths Facilitate Learning Actions and Enhance Well-Being: An Action Research on Three University Students

Prof. Wei-Yu Liu

ABSTRACT:

This study investigated the effects of character strengths learning strategies on university students’ learning outcomes and well-being, and examined students’ experiences and transformations in applying their strengths during the learning process. Three first-year undergraduate students majoring in education participated in a one-semester intervention designed by the researcher. Adopting an action research approach integrated with a qualitative case study design, this study employed mixed methods for data collection, including the VIA Character Strengths Survey, pre- and post-tests of the PERMA well-being scale, scores from seven formative assessments, six reflective learning records, and five focus group interviews. Findings indicated that the strategies effectively enhanced students’ awareness and activation of key strengths such as love, honesty, gratitude, kindness, spirituality, and perspective, which in turn supported the development of individualized learning actions and improved formative assessment performance. Across the intervention, the participants demonstrated ten concrete practices of character strengths and gradually accumulated self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation. Well-being also increased across the five PERMA dimensions, with particularly notable gains in accomplishment and meaning, suggesting that well-being was primarily derived from achievement experiences and self-awareness throughout the learning process rather than from a single score outcome. Despite emotional fluctuations caused by external factors (e.g., earthquakes and distance learning), students showed adaptive learning behaviors and emotional recovery with strategic support. Overall, character strengths learning strategies demonstrate potential to promote both learning effectiveness and well-being in higher education.

Keywords: Character Strengths, Character Strengths-Based Learning Strategies, Learning Action, Well-Being, College Students