Does Goal-Setting Mediate the Growth Mindset's Impact on Math Engagement Differently Depending on Instructional Quality?

• In Event: Growth Mindset in Education: Measuring, Mediating, and Cultivating Beliefs for Student Success

Abstract

Our study investigated how mastery goals (ambitions to enhance competence) mediate the growth mindset's impact on math engagement among adolescents in 16 public schools in the northeastern U.S. metropolitan area and how the mediation effect varies by instructional quality. We found through a causal moderated mediation analysis that a growth mindset positively influenced math engagement through mastery goal-setting. Moreover, such a mediation mechanism was amplified by students' perceived instructional quality. The result has implications for theoretical models of a growth mindset by revealing how and where the growth mindset's impact on math engagement would occur. The study emphasizes the significance of creating high-quality classroom environments where the growth mindset influences students' motivation.

Authors

• Tetsuya Yamada, University of Pittsburgh

• Xu Qin, University of Pittsburgh

• Christina Scanlon, University of Chicago

• Ming-Te Wang, University of Chicago