Mindsets: Boosting Motivation to Learn

Boston Public Schools

August 12, 2008

“I don’t divide the world into the weak and the strong, or the successes and the failures… I divide the world into the learners and nonlearners.”

- Benjamin Barber

Mindsets

• Fixed Mindset: Intelligence is a fixed trait

• Growth Mindset: Intelligence is a malleable quality; a potential that can be developed

Mindsets

• Which mindset is correct?• Which mindset is most popular?• Do students hold the same mindsets across

domains?• Are the mindsets related to students’

ability?• Are the mindsets themselves fixed or can

they be changed?

What Do Mindsets Do?

The Junior High Transition

What Do Mindsets Do?

GoalsLearning is Most Important:

“It’s much more important for me to learn things in my classes than it is to get the best grades.”

Looking Smart is Most Important:

“The main thing I want when I do my school work is to show how good I am at it.”

Pre-Med Study

Scott Forstall & The iPhone

Question “Who was the Union general at the battle of Gettysburg?”

* Subject

typesresponse and confidence

1.5 s 2 s

* Correctanswer

1.5 s

Ability-Relevant Feedback

Learning-Relevant Feedback

1 s

Paying Attention to Learning

or

What Mindsets Do

Effort BeliefsEffort is positive: “The harder you work at something, the better

you’ll be at it.”

Effort is negative: “To tell the truth, when I work hard at my school

work it makes me feel like I’m not very smart.”

Do Geniuses Work? Or Does it Just Come Naturally?

What Mindsets Do

StrategiesResilient: “I would work harder in this class from now on.” “I would spend more time studying for the tests.”

Helpless: “I would spend less time on this subject from now on.”“I would try not to take this subject ever again.”“I would try to cheat on the next test.”

Math Achievement in Junior High School

7272.5

7373.5

7474.5

7575.5

7676.5

77

Fall Year1

Spring Year1

Fall Year2

Spring Year2

FixedGrowth

growth

fixed

Fixed Mindset Instructions

“The test you are about to take, the verbal portion of the MCAT, is a measure of your verbal intelligence and verbal reasoning ability…”

Growth Mindset Instructions

The test you are about to take… is not a measure of verbal ability; rather it is a measure of your current level of reading comprehension, retention, and speed. All of these can improve considerably with practice.

Mindset Instructions on MCAT Problems

5

7.5

10

12.5

15

17.5

20

FIXED GROWTH

25.9% increase

How are Mindsets Communicated?

Messages We Send to Students

How Are Mindsets Communicated?

Intelligence Praise: “Wow, that’s a really good score. You must be smart at this.”

Effort Praise: “Wow, that’s a really good score. You must have tried really hard.”

[Control Group: “Wow, that’s a really good score.”]

Effects of Intelligence vs. Effort Praise

• Mindset: Fixed vs. Growth

• Goals: Looking smart vs. Learning

After Difficult Trial:

• Confidence: Low vs. High

• Motivation: Low vs. High

• Performance: Decreased vs. Increased

Number of problems solved on Trial 1 (before failure) and

Trial 3 (after failure).

4.5

5

5.5

6

6.5

Trial 1 Trial 3

Effort PraiseControl PraiseIntelligence Praise

Num

ber

of P

robl

ems

Solv

ed

Lying Students who misrepresented their scores

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

Intelligence Control Effort

Type of Praise Given

Changing Mindsets

Math Grades(Blackwell, Trzesniewski, & Dweck)

2.2

2.3

2.4

2.5

2.6

2.7

2.8

Before After

Control

BraInology

Math Grades(Blackwell, Trzesniewski, & Dweck)

2.2

2.3

2.4

2.5

2.6

2.7

2.8

Before After

Control

BraInology

Percent Identified as Increasing in Motivation

9

27

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Control Growth

• Replicated several times: Motivation, Grades, Achievement Test Scores

• Reduced gender gap in math; race gap on SATs

Brainology

6 Computer Modules

Teachers’ Guide

Navigating Brainology

Brain Orb as Guide

Visit to Brain Lab

Mad Scientist

Brain Experiments

The Learning Brain

Have you changed your mind about anything?

• I did change my mind about how the brain works …I will try harder because I know tha the more you try the more your brain works. (r2cute)

• Yes … I imagine neurons making connections in my brain and I feel like I am learning something. (biggie)

• My favorite thing from Brainology is the neurons part where when u learn something there are connections and they keep growing. I always picture them when I’m in school (khadija)

Teacher:Have you noticed changes?

• [In my class they] use the memory terminology every chance they get, “I’ll have to put that into my long-term memory,” “Sorry, that stuff is not in my long-term memory,” I guess I was only using my working memory” …They offer to practice, study, take notes, or pay attention to ensure that connections will be made.

Changing

Mindsets

in

Organizations(Peter Heslin & colleagues)

Before Workshop

• Fixed mindset managers don’t notice improvement--first impressions last

• Fixed mindset managers don’t mentor their employees as much--people can’t change

• Fixed mindset managers can’t take criticism

Mindset Workshop for Managers

• Scientific article and video on how the brain grows with learning throughout life

• Exercises to instill a growth mindset

After

After receiving a growth mindset workshop, managers showed greater:

• Openness to employee change• Willingness to mentor and higher quality of

mentoring• Openness to critical feedback

ConclusionThe belief in growth allows individuals

to:• Embrace learning

• Welcome challenges, mistakes, and feedback

• Understand the role of effort in creating talent

At the organizational level, a growth mindset organization:

• Portrays skills as acquirable

• Values passion, effort, improvement (and teamwork) over natural talent

• Presents leaders as mentors vs. judges

Conclusions

• Mindsets play a key role in motivation to learn (and to teach!).

• Mindsets can be changed.

Part II

Feedback for a Growth Mindset

Examples of Process Praise That Foster A Growth Mindset• You really studied for your English test

and your improvement shows it. You read the material over several times, you outlined it, and you tested yourself on it. It really worked!

• I like the way you tried all kinds of strategies on that math problem until you finally got it. You thought of a lot of different ways to do it and found the one that worked!

• It was a long and hard assignment, but you stuck to it until you got it done. You stayed at your desk, you kept your concentration, and you kept on working. That’s great!

• I like that you took on that challenging project for your science class. It will take a lot of work—doing the research, designing the machine, finding the parts, and building it. Boy, you’re going to learn a lot of great things.

• “I know school used to be easy for you and you used to feel like the smart kid all the time. But the truth is that you weren’t using your brain to the fullest. I’m really excited about how you’re stretching yourself now and working to learn hard things.”

Compare:

• “You did that project beautifully. You see, you are smart. I’m proud of you”

• “You did that project beautifully. Your practice and hard work really paid off. Are you pleased?”

Criticism

• In a fixed mindset students must be protected from errors

• In a growth mindset, teachers must tell the truth

Process (Constructive) Criticism

• “We all have different learning curves. It may take more time for you to catch on and be comfortable with this material, but you if you keep at it like this you will.”

• “Reading/writing/math is really hard for you. If you’re willing to work hard and do extra things, we can change that. Are you ready to start?”

• “I liked the effort you put in, but let’s work together some more and figure out what it is you don’t understand.”

• “Everyone learns in a different way. Let’s keep trying to find the way that works for you.”

• “I know you’re disappointed in your test grade. Let’s talk about how you studied and maybe we can figure out what went wrong.”

• “When you talk, you’re so lively and full of energy. Let’s see if we can get that into your writing. Now, how could we say this…?”

Other Growth Mindset Lessons

Enjoyment of Challenges

• “Let’s work on something hard that you can learn from, not something that you already know how to do.”

• “Boy, this is hard. This is what I call fun.”

Struggle is Not a Bad Word

• “Who had a good struggle? Let’s share what we struggled with today”

• “Now that’s what I call a terrific struggle! Way to go!”

“Mistakes Are Our Friends”

• “Who thinks they made a really interesting mistake?”

• “Who else made a terrific mistake that will help us learn?”

Learning and Improvement

• “Let’s go around and have each of you share something you learned today that you didn’t know before.”

• “That was a lot of hard work. Can you just imagine all the connections you grew today?”

Bottom Line

• Knowing how to take on challenges, struggle, welcome mistakes, and improve--is what builds and maintains healthy confidence.

• This is what children need to know

And so do we as educators…

Part III

Mindset Workshop

Personal Experiences

• 1a. What is an area in which you once had low ability, but can now perform quite well

• 1b. How were you able to make this change?

• 2a. Think of someone in your school (teacher, student, or administrator) who dramatically improved their performance.

• 2b. What did they do that enabled them to improve?

• 3a. Think of a person in your school who is struggling with their performance in some area.

• 3b. What unhelpful beliefs or strategies does this person have that interfere with their performance? How could they improve?

Believing that Students Can Develop

As an educator, what are at least 3 reasons why it is important to believe that students can develop their abilities?

Include implication for different role groups (e.g., superintendents, site administrators, teachers, and, ultimately, students).

Messages to a struggling student

• The situation: Imagine there is a student in your class who

has been pretty successful in school in the past but has entered a new grade and is finding the work very difficult. The student is beginning to feel incompetent and is turning off to school, but refuses to enter the after-school tutoring program. He feels if he were smart enough, he could do the work, and if he’s not smart enough the tutoring won’t help much.

Background information

Because intelligence and ability can be developed, students are capable of learning and mastering new things at any time in their school careers. This message is especially important to get across to students who are moving into more a period of harder work. If they view their ability as a fixed quantity, they may feel they are incapable of learning when they have difficulty. On the other hand, if they can understand that abilities can expand with hard work, they may put more effort into learning and may become a more effective student.

• Your task:

• List the points you would make in a conversation and follow-up interaction with the student about the growth mindset and how it will positively impact his achievement.

Difficulties in recognizing the potential to change

• Sometimes it’s hard to believe certain students (or teachers) can really develop their abilities beyond a certain point.

• Think back and identify three different instances in which you observed a student (or teacher) learn to do something that you were convinced they could never do.

• In each case, why do you think their improvement occurred?

• In each case, what could have been the implication of your belief that they couldn’t do it?