Students' Study Behavior Mediates the Relation Between Growth Mindset and Sustained Learning

• In Event: 29.079 - Investigating Performance Tasks as Measures of Social and Emotional Learning Skills

Abstract

Theoretical Framework and Objectives
Past research shows that students who have a growth mindset of intelligence (i.e., beliefs that intelligence can be improved through effort) show higher academic achievement than with a fixed view of intelligence (i.e., beliefs that intelligence is a fixed and unchangeable attribute). This finding is robust, having been replicated across a series of correlational and experimental studies.
In exploring a possible mechanism underlying the learning benefits of mindsets, past work has primarily relied on self-report measures. A central goal of this work was to directly measure students’ study behaviors within the context of real world high school math classroom. Insodoing, this work offers insight into exactly how those with a growth mindset behave differently from those with more fixed views while studying and, importantly, how those differences explain why a growth mindset tends to boost achievement.
In particular, we examined how long math students persisted on a set of challenging practice problems when they knew that, whenever they wanted, they could click to the next screen to see the correct solution. In this context, persistence represented a willingness to expend effort to try to solve the problem on one’s own – in other words, a willingness to engage in desirable difficulties in learning. Desirable difficulties are mental activities that are slow and effortful during practice but ultimately benefit sustained learning, compared to easier practice activities. We propose that persistence in effortful cognitive activities like problem-solving is an important self-management competency that can increase retention of new material over time.

Method
Participants were 667 high school students who completed a set of tutorials and then studied the tutorial material through 14 challenging practice problems. Participants were able to spend as long as they wanted on each problem before clicking to see the solution. Five days after completing study, students took a test of sustained learning on those same topics. Prior to completing the task, students’ mindsets were measured with a self-report survey.

Results
Replicating past research, students with a growth mindset earned higher scores on the test of sustained learning. By examining students’ behavior while studying, we gained insight into why a stronger growth mindset was associated with sustained learning. Relative to those with more fixed beliefs, students with more of a growth mindset persisted longer – i.e., devoted more time to trying each practice problem before clicking to see the solution. This additional time predicted better performance on the practice questions. Even after controlling for practice problem scores, longer persistence during practice mediated the effect of growth mindset on sustained learning.

Significance
This research suggests students’ study behavior on our practice task differed between those with more of a growth mindset relative to those with more of a fixed mindset. This work also enhances understanding of how mindsets operate, suggesting that students’ behavior is an important mechanism through which mindsets shape learning.

Authors

• Marissa K Hartwig, Washington State University - Pullman

• Joyce Ehrlinger, Washington State University

• Mycah Harrold, Washington State University - Pullman

• Jordan Vossen, Washington State University - Pullman

• Ainsley Mitchum

• Audra Biermann

• Kali Trzesniewski, University of California - Davis