Tuesday, October 25, 2016

GROWTH MINDSET FOR STEM - AN INVITATION

This blog is intended as a resource for STEM faculty interested in applying the new psychology of success and growth mindset in their teaching practices (learn more about the growth mindset on Carol Dweck's Mindset Online) Research demonstrates that
thinking about intelligence as changeable and malleable, rather than stable and fixed, results in greater academic achievement.
(Source: American Psychological Association)
Very recently, Yeager Group at UT Austin published groundbreaking results suggesting that teaching freshman students so called lay theory, which conveys a message that
challenges in the transition to college are common and improvable and, thus, that early struggles should not suggest a permanent lack of belonging or potential,
improves retention and significantly reduces achievement gap when delivered to entire incoming freshman class. (Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences). These results generated national attention with editorials in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times.

The growth mindset concept is pertinent to specific psychological interventions as well as to a host of teaching methods, advising approaches, institutional policies (such as academic probation) and an overall "institutional culture." There is increasing evidence that growth mindset is key to teaching STEM, as described in this US News & World Reports article. Please follow this blog for resources and insights for learning about and applying growth mindset in higher education.

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