The influences of curriculum area and student background on mindset to learning in the veterinary curriculum: a pilot study

Abstract

A student's mindset influences their achievement and response to challenge, with a ‘fixed mindset’ encouraging disengagement from challenging tasks and avoidance of learning and feedback opportunities. These behaviours resemble those reported for professional and non‐clinical curriculum areas, which are important for employability and resilience in veterinary practice. Students with a ‘growth mindset’ to learning are more persistent when faced with challenges and actively seek more demanding tasks. They also demonstrate higher levels of psychological well‐being. The objectives of this study were to explore whether variation in veterinary students’ mindset to learning exists across different curriculum areas, and to identify whether students’ backgrounds influence their learning mindset. The mindsets of veterinary students at a UK veterinary school were measured using an adapted version of the Implicit Theories of Intelligence Scale. The survey was constructed to compare mindset in clinical reasoning, professional reasoning (incorporating ethics and critical thinking), communication skills and reflection. More students demonstrated a growth mindset to communication skills (59%), reflection (84%) and clinical reasoning (83%) than to professional reasoning (34%). There were more students with a fixed mindset to professional reasoning (10%) than in other areas (0–5%). Students’ background (international or non‐traditional university access) did not appear to influence mindset to learning. Disengagement from professional studies curricula may be a consequence of students lacking a growth mindset in professional reasoning. Curriculum interventions that encourage engagement and the development of a growth mindset to learning non‐clinical competences may be beneficial.

A review to characterise and map the growth mindset theory in health professions education

“…Dark squares indicate the strategy used in the research study. Numbers at the top of each column are the reference numbers and are listed in chronological order of publication date 24‐50 …”

“…Three studies described modified instruments for measuring mindset of domain‐specific abilities, including clinical reasoning, professional reasoning, communication, talent, moral character and empathy 29,31,34 . These studies focused on the impact of educational, cultural and other background differences on mindset measures—there were significant differences in mindset based on the domain; however, mindset differences were not correlated with education or demographics 31 .…”

“…Three studies described modified instruments for measuring mindset of domain‐specific abilities, including clinical reasoning, professional reasoning, communication, talent, moral character and empathy 29,31,34 . These studies focused on the impact of educational, cultural and other background differences on mindset measures—there were significant differences in mindset based on the domain; however, mindset differences were not correlated with education or demographics 31 . Two studies used the Williams Inventory of Learning Strategies, which includes a measure of mindset and measures of learning strategies and behaviours—there were correlations between growth mindset and the use of evidence‐based learning strategies 36,37 …”

Views of American animal and dairy science students on the future of dairy farms and public expectations for dairy cattle care: A focus group study

“…However, to enable students to become capable problem-solvers, sufficient faculty support is necessary to better facilitate the teaching of critical thinking skills (Stedman and Brown, 2020). Armitage-Chan and Maddison (2019) suggested that the lack of a systematic approach in teaching professional reasoning to veterinary students contributes to students' perception that these skills are elusive and removed from practice, and they lacked confidence in being able to acquire these skills. Further, approaches to resolving professional dilemmas and professional reasoning strategies have been poorly articulated by faculty members, perhaps because they themselves have received insufficient formal education in this area (Stern and Papadakis, 2006;Hawick et al, 2017).…”

Exploring the Mindset of Veterinary Educators for Intelligence, Clinical Reasoning, Compassion, and Morality

“…1 Growth mindset in veterinary students has been found to be at or above the general population, up to 70% in one study. [14][15][16][17] Educators tend to have higher growth mindset rates than the general population, up to 80%. [18][19][20][21] A person's mindset can be changed, and one of the key ways in which this occurs is called mindset contagion, meaning, the mindset of people around an individual, such as a student's classmates and teachers, can affect the individual's mindset.…”