How growth mindset influences mathematics achievements: A study of Chinese middle school students

Introduction

It has been suggested that students with growth mindsets are more likely to achieve better mathematics learning results than their counterparts with fixed mindsets. However, inconsistent and some even contradictory results have been reported in recent studies which examined the associations between growth mindset and mathematics achievements, suggesting the complexity regarding the effects of growth mindset on academic achievements.

Methods

This study aims to examine students' growth mindsets, failure attributions, intrinsic motivation, mathematics self-efficacy, mathematics anxiety and mathematics achievements in one model to capture the sophisticated functioning processes of growth mindset. A total number of 266 middle school students in China participated in this study. Students' mindset and related variables (i.e.,motivations to learn mathematics, attributions of failure in mathematics, mathematics anxiety, mathematics self-efficacy) were measured at year 7, the first year of junior middle school in China. These students' mathematics learning outcomes were tracked from year 7 to year 9, the end of junior middle school. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to investigate the relations among students' growth mindsets, failure attributions, intrinsic motivation, mathematics self-efficacy, mathematics anxiety and mathematics achievements.

Results

The results show that: (1) growth mindset doesn't directly predict mathematics achievements; (2) growth mindset indirectly influences mathematics achievements through intrinsic motivation; (3) failure attributions and mathematics self-efficacy sequentially mediate the association between growth mindset mathematics achievements; (4) failure attributions and mathematics anxiety sequentially mediate the relationship between growth mindset mathematics achievements.

Discussion

The results of this study contribute a better understanding about how growth mindsets make impacts on middle school students' mathematics achievements. These findings have important implications for mathematics education in that we could not simply cultivate students' growth mindset in schools with expectations of higher mathematics learning outcomes. Instead, along with the growth mindset intervention, it is fundamental to make interventions on students' intrinsic motivation, failure attribution, mathematics self-efficacy, and mathematics anxiety in mathematics teaching and learning.

Peer Feedback Reflects the Mindset and Academic Motivation of Learners

Given that little is known how peer feedback reflects adolescents’ academic well-being in different cultures, this study investigates, by means of multiple-group structural equation modeling (SEM), the influence of peer feedback on the mindset and academic motivation of Chinese (N = 992) and Finnish (N = 870) students in the fourth to the ninth school grades. Within this investigation, we also explore the culture-invariant and culture-dependent nature of student feedback, mindset and academic motivation. The results indicate that the way students praise their peers in their feedback primes and modifies their mindsets and academic motivation. Person-focused praise reflects a fixed mindset and negative academic motivation (i.e., avoidance), whereas process-focused praise undermines negative academic motivation. The pupils in the two samples had growth mindsets. However, the Finnish students preferred to bestow neutral praise and to be more negative with regard to their academic motivation whereas the Chinese students favored process- and person-focused praise, the former reflecting not only their growth mindset but also their positive academic motivation (i.e., trying).

Mindset and perseverance of adolescents with intellectual disabilities: Associations with empowerment, mental health problems, and self-esteem

BACKGROUND

Mindset refers to the implicit assumptions about the malleability of attributes such as intelligence, behavior, and personality. Previous research has shown that people endorsing a growth mindset show better academic and mental health outcomes than those with a fixed mindset. However, little is known about the mindset of youth with intellectual disabilities (ID) and its association with mental health.

METHODS

Adolescents with (n = 247) and without (n = 96) mild to borderline ID completed questionnaires about mindset and perseverance, empowerment, mental health problems, and self-esteem.

RESULTS

Adolescents with ID endorse a more fixed mindset of emotion and behavior than adolescents without ID. No significant differences were found for mindset of intelligence and perseverance. In addition, within the group of youth with ID some differences in mindset and perseverance were found based on level of intellectual disability, gender, and comorbidities, but not for age. Finally, a growth mindset of emotion and behavior and perseverance, but not mindset of intelligence, were negatively related to mental health problems in youth with ID.

CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS

Overall, findings indicate that teaching youth with ID a growth mindset of emotion and behavior and perseverance may be a potentially successful endeavour to improve mental health in adolescents with ID.

Teachers' Growth Mindset and Work Engagement in the Chinese Educational Context: Well-Being and Perseverance of Effort as Mediators

The current study investigated the relationships among growth mindset, work engagement, perseverance of effort and well-being for secondary school teachers in the Chinese educational context. We adopted Growth Mindset Inventory, Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES), Grit Scale (Perseverance subscale), and PERMA profiles that measure five dimensions of well-being. Participants included 472 secondary school teachers from 10 secondary schools in central China. Correlation analysis showed that growth mindset, well-being, and perseverance of effort could all predict work engagement. Moreover, the structural equation model and mediation analysis further suggested that well-being and perseverance of effort could partially mediate the relationship between growth mindset and work engagement. This study permitted to advance our knowledge about the relationship between growth mindset and work engagement, which should be considered for future teaching practices and teacher development.

Student Self-Efficacy, Classroom Engagement, and Academic Achievement: Comparing Three Theoretical Frameworks

Student self-efficacy, behavioral engagement, and emotional engagement are key factors for academic achievement. Research has yet to identify the developmental cascades linking these four constructs. Three theoretical frameworks, i.e., Self-Efficacy Theory, the Self-System Model of Motivational Development, and Expectancy-Value Theory, suggest different nexus. Following 671 students (51.8% girls) from their 4^th to 6^th grade, this study aims to assess competing hypotheses from these three frameworks in math. Three cross-lag models were tested to test each theoretical framework. A fourth and final model was tested to include the significant paths from the previous models. Mediation paths were also tested. Results mainly support assumptions from Self-Efficacy Theory, that is student self-efficacy and academic achievement are mutually associated from 4^th to 6^th grades. Some of the propositions of Expectancy-Value Theory were also supported. Self-efficacy was associated with later emotional engagement and academic achievement. However, emotional engagement in 5^th grade was negatively associated with achievement in 6^th grade and was not associated with behavioral engagement. Assumptions from the Self-System Model were not supported by the data. Testing the fourth model revealed an unexpected developmental cascade: 5^th-grade self-efficacy mediated the association between 4^th-grade achievement and 6^th-grade emotional engagement. This last finding may have great implications for young adolescents as emotional engagement is an indicator of student well-being and intrinsic value of learning. Implications for theory validation and intervention targets for adolescents are discussed.

Implicit Theories of Intelligence and Academic Achievement: A Meta-Analytic Review

The current study intended to model the link between implicit theories of intelligence (ITI) and students' academic achievement, within a meta-analytic review procedure. To assess studies' effect size, the Pearson's correlation coefficient (r) was used. The review of 46 studies (94 effect sizes) with 412,022 students presented a low-to-moderate association between the ITI and students' academic achievement. The results indicated that incremental theorists are more likely to have higher grades in specific subjects (verbal and quantitative) and in overall achievement. The entity beliefs were positively associated with students' specific verbal and quantitative domains but at a lower magnitude than incremental beliefs. Moreover, the moderator effect analyses results indicated that the link between ITI and students' achievement was not moderated by gender, but there was a moderate association in student's middle school grade. Additionally, the ITI assessment based on the most recent versions of Dweck's scales, the use of specific academic scales instead of general ITI scales, and the use of the original measures rather than adapted versions strongly moderated the link between ITI and achievement. Moreover, students from Eastern continents (Asia and Oceania) reported a positive association between incremental beliefs and achievement, Europe displayed a positive link between entity beliefs and achievement, whereas North America presented negative correlations between entity perspectives and academic achievement. This meta-analysis updates the current evidence supporting the direct link of ITI and students' academic achievement and acknowledges specific effects that ITI could have in different academic outcomes.

Putting Yourself on the Line: Self-Esteem and Expressing Affection in Romantic Relationships

Although expressing affection is an important way to connect to a romantic partner, it also involves putting yourself on the line—revealing dependence on your partner. Extending the risk-regulation model, we hypothesized that individuals with lower self-esteem (SE), who are concerned about vulnerability in relationships, experience less rewarding reactions to expressing affection, and believe that their partners respond less positively to receiving affection. We assessed these predictions across two studies that measured retrospective reports, reactions to an in vivo exchange and responses in daily life. We found that participants with lower SE expressed less affection and experienced less positive emotional, cognitive, and physiological reactions when doing so. Participants with lower SE believed that their partners derived fewer benefits from their affection despite that their partners experienced normative boosts in positive emotion and relationship satisfaction during these exchanges. The consequences of these findings for relationship functioning and SE are discussed.

Psychometric properties of the Achievement Goal Questionnaire-Revised administered to Greek university students

This study examined the generalizability of the Achievement Goal Questionnaire-Revised (AGQ-R) in a different cultural and ethnic context than other published studies and across different levels of specificity in the academic domain. The study assessed the structural validity and reliability of the questionnaire as administered to 105 Greek University students in both a course-specific context and in a more general academic context. Six plausible alternative models with three- and two-factor structures were compared to the four-factor structure of the questionnaire. In the course-specific context administration, the four-factor structure of the AGQ-R was supported, but a three-factor structure model did not provide a worse fit. None of the remaining models provided a good fit. At the more general academic context, the four-factor structure of the questionnaire did not show adequate fit to the data. The same was true for each one of the six alternative models. The internal consistency reliabilities for the factors depicted in the four- and three-factor structure models were very good, ranging from .90 to .98.

Predicting academic self-handicapping in different age groups: The role of personal achievement goals and social goals

BACKGROUND

Academic self-handicapping refers to the use of impediments to successful performance on academic tasks. Previous studies have shown that it is related to personal achievement goals. A performance goal orientation is a positive predictor of self-handicapping, whereas a task goal orientation is unrelated to self-handicapping.

AIMS

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between academic self-handicapping, goal orientations (task, performance-approach, performance-avoidance), social goals, future consequences and achievement in mathematics. An additional aim was to investigate grade-level and gender differences in relation to academic self-handicapping.

SAMPLE

Participants were 702 upper elementary, junior and senior high school students with approximately equal numbers of girls and boys.

RESULTS

There were no grade-level or gender differences as regards the use of self-handicapping. The correlations among the variables revealed that, when the whole sample was considered, self-handicapping was positively related to performance goal orientations and pleasing significant others and negatively to achievement in mathematics. The results of hierarchical regression analysis showed that, in upper elementary and junior high schools, the association between achievement in mathematics and self-handicapping was mediated by performance-avoidance goals. In senior high school, only task goal orientation was a negative predictor of self-handicapping.

Does priming for mastery goals improve the performance of students with an entity view of ability?

BACKGROUND

There is evidence that an entity view of ability (where ability is viewed as a fixed entity that cannot be changed) is linked with social comparison goals and poor performance. On the other hand, an incremental view of ability (where ability is viewed as an acquirable skill) is linked with a mastery goal orientation and positive achievement outcomes. On these bases, the present study sought evidence that priming students with an entity view of ability to pursue mastery goals would result in improved performance.

SAMPLE

Participants were 48 students with an entity view of ability, and 48 students with an incremental view of ability.

METHOD

We used a 2 (views of ability: entity, incremental) x 2 (performance feedback: success, failure) x 2 (goal priming: mastery, social comparison) between-subjects factorial design to examine the effects of goal priming on performance for students with either an incremental or entity view of ability following either success or failure feedback. Prior to, and following, performance feedback, participants completed parallel measures of state anxiety. Participants were then primed for either social comparison goals prior to attempting to solve 16 Unicursal (tracing puzzle) tasks. Their performance on a subsequent set of Unicursal tasks was then examined. Finally participants completed a State Goals Scale assessing their degree of endorsement of social comparison/mastery goals whilst working on the Unicursal tasks.

RESULTS

The performance of students with an incremental view of ability was comparable irrespective of whether they were initially exposed to success and failure feedback and irrespective of whether they were primed for mastery or social comparison goals. However the performance of students with an entity view of ability improved when they were primed for mastery relative to social comparison goals irrespective of whether they were initially exposed to success or failure.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings confirm the performance-limiting consequences of social comparison goals for participants with an entity view of ability, suggesting benefits in encouraging these students to pursue mastery goals.

The effects of selective schooling and self-concept on adolescents' academic aspiration: an examination of Dweck's self-theory

BACKGROUND

Dweck has emphasized the role of pupils' implicit theories about intellectual ability in explaining variations in their engagement, persistence and achievement. She has also highlighted the role of confidence in one's intelligence as a factor influencing educational attainment.

AIM

The aim of this paper is to develop a model of achievement aspiration in adolescence and to compare young people who are educated at a selective grammar school with those who attend a non-selective 'secondary modern' school.

SAMPLE

The sample consisted of 856 English secondary school pupils in years 7 and 10 from two selective and two non-selective secondary schools.

METHOD

Questionnaires were completed in schools.

RESULTS

The findings are consistent with the model, showing that achievement aspiration is predicted directly by gender, school type and type of intelligence theory. Importantly, school type also affects aspirations indirectly, with effects being mediated by confidence in one's own intelligence and perceived academic performance. Intelligence theory also affects aspirations indirectly with effects being mediated by perceived academic performance, confidence and self-esteem. Additionally, intelligence theory has a stronger effect on aspirations in the selective schools than in the non-selective schools.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings provide substantial support for Dweck's self-theory, showing that implicit theories are related to aspirations. However, the way in which theory of intelligence relates to age and gender suggests there may be important cross-cultural or contextual differences not addressed by Dweck's theory. Further research should also investigate the causal paths between aspirations, implicit theories of intelligence and the impact of school selection.