Developmental Trajectories of Children's Mindsets, Attributions, and Achievement in Math (Poster 5)

• In Event: AERA Poster Session 11
  In Poster Session: Motivation in Education SIG Poster Session: Motivational Processes and Effects (San Diego)

Abstract

The perception that some individuals are “math people” is common. In motivation theories, this belief is related to stable attributions and fixed mindset. However, little is known about how young children’s beliefs about the stability of math ability might develop during elementary school when they are first learning formal math. Latent grown curve models identified longitudinal trajectories in children’s (N = 615) stable attributions and fixed mindsets in mathematics alongside math achievement. Even at this early age, beliefs about stability were linked to achievement. Children who have the steepest increases in math ability likely have the steepest declines in fixed mindset, providing new evidence that children’s experiences in math learning may shape their developing beliefs about mathematics.

Authors

• Michael M. Barger, University of Georgia

• Shannon Clark, University of Georgia

• Dajung Diana Oh, American Institutes for Research

• Eva M. Pomerantz, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign