How Gratitude Diary Changed School
137 students recorded three things they were grateful for daily with AI support over one month. We share how friendship satisfaction and school satisfaction significantly improved.
Why Don’t Adolescents Enjoy School?
Adolescent school satisfaction dropped from 73.8% in 2022 to 72.4% in 2024. During the same period, depression rates among teenagers rose to 27.7%. These numbers aren’t just statistics—they signal how much harder it is for kids who must go to school every day.
An Old Solution from Positive Psychology, A New Approach
Gratitude journaling is an intervention method proven over decades. Research by Emmons & McCullough (2003) and Froh et al. (2008) supports its effectiveness. But one question remained: What difference would AI make?
137 Students, One Month of Research
Supported by the 2025 KERIS Edutech Software Lab Project, a randomized controlled trial was conducted with 137 elementary and middle school students.
Experimental group (64 students): Record 3 things they were grateful for daily on Seamspace + receive AI feedback Control group (73 students): Participate in pre and post measurements only
For 4 weeks, the experimental group maintained over 80% participation rate.
Results: Two Significant Changes
Improved Friendship Satisfaction (p < .05)
- Experimental group average: 30.4 → 33.2
- Control group: 31.2 (no change)
Improved School Satisfaction (p < .005)
- Experimental group average: 12.1 → 14.7
- Control group: 13.2 (no change)
Anger expression, self-esteem, and life satisfaction needed more time to measure changes within one month. The research team recommended further longitudinal studies.
The Difference AI Feedback Made
Seamspace provided four things each time a student wrote their gratitude entry:
- Context-based emotion analysis - Understanding student emotions instantly
- Empathetic comments from AI Sims - Warm and encouraging feedback
- Life type (LBTI) analysis - Understanding student characteristics and preferences
- Mental health index - Scores for stress, anxiety, depression, and apathy (0–10)
Immediate, personalized responses led to sustained student engagement.
Small Habits Change Relationships
Writing three things you’re grateful for each day is a small action. Yet that tiny habit transformed friendships and feelings about school within a month. Seamspace shows that change through data and accompanies it with AI.
Source: Lee, C., Yu, S., Ryu, J., & Na, Y. (2025). The Effects of AI-based Gratitude Writing in School on Psychological Adjustment among Adolescents. 제5회 경기 에듀테크 심포지엄 논문집 (pp. 209–218). KERIS.