The level of Mindfulness Among the Students of the Faculty of Educational Sciences at al-Quds Open University and Its Relationship to Problem Solving Skills

Abstract

The present study sought to identify the level of mindfulness among the students of the Faculty of Educational Sciences at al-Quds Open University and its relationship to problem solving skills. In order to achieve the objectives of the study, the study tools were applied, after verifying their validity and stability, on a sample that consisted of 251 students. The sample was selected through Stratified sampling method. The population study consisted of all the students at the Faculty of Educational Sciences at al-Quds Open University in Hebron branch, during the first semester of the academic year 2017/2018.

The results of the study showed that the level of mindfulness was generally high among the students. The domain of “observation and description” came in the first order, followed by the domains of “openness” and “awareness”. In the last order came the domain of "neutralizing feelings." There were significant differences at α ≤ 0.05 in the level of mindfulness due to the occupation variable, in favor of working students. There were no significant differences due to the variables of gender, specialization and marital status. The results also showed a statistically positive relationship between the level of mindfulness as a whole and its four domains and the problem-solving skills.  Moreover, the domain of “awareness” came first in its ability to predict problem-solving skills, followed by “openness” and “neutralize feelings”.