Does Mindset Intervention Predict Students’ Daily Experience in Classrooms? A Comparison of Seventh and Ninth Graders’ Trajectories

Abstract

One's beliefs about whether ability is fixed or malleable-also known as fixed or growth mindset-can impact academic outcomes. This quasi-experimental study investigated effects of a six-week classroom intervention targeting growth mindset on students' daily quality of experience in science classrooms. Seventh grade (N = 370) and 9th grade (N = 356) students (50 % female, 61 % Hispanic) were randomly assigned by classroom to either a mindset intervention condition or content writing task condition. Students provided self-reports on multiple aspects of their daily classroom experience 11 times across the school year. Hierarchical linear growth models indicate that 7th and 9th grade students who were not exposed to the mindset intervention showed declines in perceived control skill, interest, and learning. In contrast, 9th graders in the mindset intervention reported increased control and interest, and maintained constant levels in skill and learning. Similar effects were not observed among 7th graders. The results are discussed in terms of implications for future research and optimal developmental periods for mindset intervention.

Persistence Mindset among Adolescents: Who Benefits from the Message that Academic Struggles are Normal and Temporary?

“…Finally, although the intervention effect sizes in the present research were small in an absolute sense, their magnitude is consistent with those found in mindset intervention studies that have focused on academic outcomes (Blackwell et al, 2007;Schmidt, Shumow, & Kackar-Cam, 2017;Yeager, Walton, et al, 2016). Students' academic outcomes are often driven by recursive processes, where earlier success begets future success, which in turn begets even further future success, and so on.…”

Towards a Growth Mindset Culture in the Classroom: Implementation of a Lesson-Integrated Mindset Training

“…ird, we assumed that the mindset training would increase motivation, as was the case in previous studies (e.g., [2,19,25]). According to Pintrich et al [47], task value is seen as an indicator for learners' motivation.…”

“…A similar pattern has been reported in previous research. For example, students Education Research International experienced strong declines in perceived skill across the school year, which were only partly buffered by a mindset training [25]. Fredericks and Eccles [55] argue that such downward trend occurs naturally as competitiveness and social comparisons at school become stronger over time.…”

“…A mindset training can induce an opposite trend and increase motivation (e.g., [19]); however, there are mixed findings. For example, Schmidt et al [25] found their training to raise interest only among ninth-graders, but not among seventhgraders. Dommett et al [27] found no training effect on motivational measures at all.…”

“…ese changed beliefs can entail further desirable changes, such as affirmative self-beliefs (e.g., [24,25]), higher motivation for learning (e.g., [2]), and even better academic performance (e.g., [3,19,21]).…”