Effects of a Growth Mind-Set Intervention on Undergraduate Students' Implicit Theories

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Abstract

This paper follows two cohorts of freshman college students who participated in an instructor-designed growth mindset intervention. In the first cohort, we analyzed student written reflections to understand (1) how students related topics covered in the intervention to their lives, and (2) to what extent students reflected on neuroplasticity and growth mindset. For the second cohort, we measured students’ grit, implicit theories and general self-efficacy (GSE) before and after the intervention. Students showed growth between pre- and posttest measure of grit, implicit theories, and GSE. Additionally, results from reflections provided evidence that students understood growth mindset and engaged with the idea of intelligence malleability. This growth, however, was not related to students’ first-year academic achievement.

Authors

• Isabel Lopez, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

• Suzanne L. Russ, Dickinson State University

• Geoffrey M. Maruyama, University of Minnesota

• Andrew Williams