Assignment My Mindful Listening Experiment
“So my parents came visiting” (Links to an external site.) by iLikeSpoons (Links to an external site.) is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 (Links to an external site.)
Instructions
Review the Module 6 Learning Material and address the following in your short essay (at least 250 words, double-spaced):
STEP 1:
Rate yourself honestly on how frequently you “actively listen” to your best friend, family member, and/or significant other. You can use this assessment (Links to an external site.) for your self-evaluation (found at mindtools.com).
Summarize (in at least one paragraph of 100 words) your listening strengths and weaknesses, and identify at least one conversational habit that you would like to improve on.
STEP 2:
Spend at least 20 minutes actively mindfully listening to a conversational partner. This does not mean that you cannot speak, but rather, that you refrain from offering critiques, your own experiences, or unsolicited advice and merely strive to hear what your partner is saying. See the suggestions at https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/listening-quiz.htm (Links to an external site.) for more.
STEP 3:
Describe (in at least one paragraph of 100-150 words for each prompt):
– (a) Your “mindful listening” experience — i.e., was it easy? Awkward? Did you catch yourself in “bad habits” — e.g., giving advice and/or doing more talking than listening?
– (b) Did your conversational partner notice that you were listening more attentively than usual? (If you want to be brave here, ask for feedback on what you were doing well, and what you might improve on.) Did your conversational partner feel “heard” and “understood”?
(c) Summary: What are two major insights that you learned from this activity? Cite from our Module 6 Learning Material in your response.
Learning Objectives
This assignment addresses the following module learning objectives:
Objective 1: Identify factors that correlate with successful long-term relationships.
Objective 3: Describe communication and conflict resolution patterns in successful long-term relationships.
RubricMy Mindful Listening ExperienceMy Mindful Listening ExperienceCriteriaRatingsPtsThis criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeListening Self-AssessmentEvaluated your listening strengths and weaknesses, and identified at least one conversational habit that you would like to improve on5 ptsFull Marks0 ptsNo Marks5 pts
This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeMindful Listening ExperienceDescribed (in at least two paragraphs of 100-150 words each):
– (a) Your “mindful listening” experience (Was it easy? Awkward? Did you catch yourself giving advice and/or doing more talking than listening?)
– (b) Whether your conversational partner noticed that you were listening more attentively than usual?
Whether your conversational partner felt “heard” and “understood”?12 ptsFull Marks0 ptsNo Marks12 pts
This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeSummarySummarized at least two new insights from the activity.5 ptsFull Marks0 ptsNo Marks5 pts
This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeWriting/MechanicsClear writing and an on-time submission, with no spelling, writing, or grammatical issues.3 ptsFull Marks0 ptsNo Marks3 pts
Total Points: 25