SuperBetter Classroom
A Collaboration between NIU and SuperBetter, Works to Improve Teacher and Student Wellbeing
NIU STEAM is taking the lead on design and testing in this exciting new partnership!
In 2023, the Centers for Disease Control reported that 40% of high school students had persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, 20% seriously considered attempting suicide and 9% attempted suicide. Yet, the American School Counselor Association reported that the K-12 student-to-school counselor ratio across the nation was far below recommendations. Students are facing a mental health epidemic, and schools often lack the resources needed to address it.
NIU and Chicago-area company SuperBetter are responding by using the psychology of game play to create simple activities and lessons teachers can use to improve wellbeing and mental health for all students. And NIU STEAM is taking the lead on the design and classroom testing of the lessons.
The lessons guide students through popular gameplay activities, such a battling “bad guys,” seeking out and completing quests and recruiting allies to overcome everyday life hurdles. The lessons use the proven SuperBetter framework, which has been shown through randomized controlled trials to significantly reduce depression and anxiety symptoms.
Last year, Keith Wakeman, CEO of SuperBetter, approached NIU with the goal of developing SuperBetter Classroom – a school-based model to proactively address the youth mental health crisis in a way that is practical, evidence-based and globally-scalable. A development team drawn from NIU STEAM in the Division of Outreach, Engagement and Regional Development, NIU’s Office of Innovation and the NIU College of Health and Human Sciences is working with a community advisory board to create and pilot two new products: a Teacher Wellbeing Program and a Classroom Toolkit with engaging activities to help students overcome learning barriers associated with mental and emotional wellbeing.
Read this NIU Today story to learn more about this exciting partnership!
