Examining Teachers' and Students' Beliefs About Math Ability and Classroom Practices

• In Event: 63.018 - Promising Scholarship in Education: Dissertation Fellows and Their Research

Abstract

The belief that math ability is innate – some people have it, others do not, and there is little one can do to change their basic math ability – is particularly prevalent in the United States (Stevenson, Chen, & Lee, 1993) and has been linked to maladaptive behavior such as avoiding challenging work and giving up when encountering difficulty (Dweck, 2000). Such beliefs may contribute to the persistent problem of relatively low performance and low interest in mathematics in the U.S. (Boaler, 2009), particularly among female (National Academy of Sciences, 2006), African American, and Latino (Flores, 2007) students. Improving U.S. students’ math performance requires a better understanding of the sources of such beliefs. This mixed-methods study investigates the ways in which math teachers may contribute to students’ beliefs and ideas about their own math potential.

People’s beliefs about math ability tend to fall along a spectrum which ranges from a fixed mindset, the belief that one’s math ability is innate and limited, to a growth mindset, the belief that math ability is something that is malleable and can be developed through hard work and perseverance (Dweck, 2006). Despite evidence suggesting the value of growth mindsets for student achievement, little is known about how teachers might influence student mindsets, particularly in relation to mathematics – a subject where fixed mindset beliefs abound.

Using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM), preliminary analysis of a subset of data suggests that teacher mindset at the beginning of the year predicts students’ mindsets at the end of the year, while controlling for students’ beginning of the year mindsets. Preliminary findings also suggest that students’ mindsets are significantly correlated with their views of math (e.g., “Math is involves mostly facts and procedures that have to be learned”) and identification with math (e.g., “I see myself as a math person”). Additionally, math teachers’ beginning of the year mindsets are significantly correlated with their views of math and self-reported practices, such as allowing resubmission of student work and focusing on correctness.

Through qualitative analysis of classroom observations and teacher and student interviews, this study examines how instructional practices vary across seven math teachers representing a range of mindset beliefs. Preliminary analysis finds that the language of growth mindset is prevalent in classrooms. In their instruction, the majority of the observed teachers explicitly used the phrase “growth mindset” or phrases related to perseverance and effort. However, mathematics instruction in some of these classrooms seemed to contradict these explicit growth mindset messages. Findings from this study will further our understanding of this disconnect by examining how math teachers might implicitly communicate mindset messages to their students. Building upon existing frameworks (Boaler, 2013), this study identifies potential instructional practices (e.g., setting classroom norms, encouraging risks, handling of mathematical errors) that may implicitly convey mindset messages. Findings will identify how different approaches to these instructional practices may support or hinder the development of growth mindset in students.

Author

• Kathy Liu Sun, Santa Clara University