#Define focused full

If the activity at hand happens to be something we enjoy and we’re good at, we achieve a flow mental state - and it can leave us feeling ecstatic, motivated and fulfilled.īeing able to achieve a state of flow, and on a smaller scale, being able to achieve even a bit of focus, is essential to achieving goals.

#Define focused full

When we’re challenging ourselves with a task, our mind reaches full capacity. According to Csikszentmihalyi, “The best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times… the best moments usually occur if a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.” To that end, engagement and concentration are key in achieving flow state.Īccording to Csikszentmihalyi, the human mind can process up to 120 bits of information per second. The flow mental state is generally less common during periods of relaxation and makes itself present during challenging and engaging activities. The feelings that would consume you under normal circumstances (inhibition, hunger, fatigue, or aches and pains) melt away, and all that matters is your dedication to your craft. The mind’s usual chatter begins to fade away, placing us in a non-distracted zone. When you’re giving your fullest attention to an activity or task that you are incredibly passionate about, singularly focused on, and totally immersed in, you may find yourself creating the conditions necessary to experience a flow state of mind. Csikszentmihalyi and Nakamura reached this conclusion by interviewing a variety of self-actualized, high-performing people: including mountain climbers, chess players, surgeons, and ballet dancers. “There’s this focus that, once it becomes intense, leads to a sense of ecstasy, a sense of clarity: you know exactly what you want to do from one moment to the other you get immediate feedback,” Csikszentmihalyi said in a 2004 TED Talk. The interview can be very helpful in determining breadth and depth by including a variety of questions that encourage the student to discuss both the span and specific details of his or her knowledge around the topics being assessed.Īs you begin to define how broad and detailed the student's knowledge is, think about how the extent of it fits within academic structures, such as the level of learning in relation to the first two years or the second two years of an undergraduate degree.Popularized by positive psychologists Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Jeanne Nakamura, flow state describes a feeling where, under the right conditions, you become fully immersed in whatever you are doing.

meets SUNY general education requirements.is liberal arts and sciences or applied/professional.As part of the assessment, you will determine whether the learning: A college degree represents a focused collection of topics that are interrelated and have breadth and depth within and across those disciplines.Īs the evaluator, you need to assess the extent of the student's breadth and depth of knowledge. Within any area of study, there will be both breadth and depth of learning, which increase as students advance their knowledge. Depth of learning refers to the extent to which specific topics are focused upon, amplified and explored. One useful approach to organizing and describing college-level learning is to think about the breadth and depth of the learning.īreadth of learning refers to the full span of knowledge of a subject.