Understanding Growth Mindset for Online Learning (Part 1)

It can sometimes be challenging for instructional designers to connect their learners if they aren't using effective research based learning techniques.

Understanding the theory of growth mindset is essential for instructional designers to be the most effective designers that they can be.

This is a two-part article that explains and critiques four different published journal articles on the theory of growth mindset and how instructional designers can better implement the theory in the eLearning environment.

PART ONE

Growth mindset is the idea that anyone can do anything when they put in the effort. If a person lacks a “growth mindset”, they are said to have a “fixed mindset”, which is a belief that their intelligence is unchangeable.

Each of the articles I reviewed describes distinctive topics about the theory from one another. One of the researchers, Carol S. Dwek has been vastly studying growth mindset since the 1960s. Three other reliable research articles are discussed within the post. In addition, I express my own personal reflection of the topic and why it is it related to online teaching.

Introduction

For over three decades now, researchers have studied the idea that people’s attitudes of learning are what truly determines one’s intelligence. This idea is known as growth mindset.

People used to believe that our intelligence is fixed. Although, current research has shown that this type of thinking stunts the true potential of growth in their minds. “Researchers now say that persistence, not intelligence, is the key to success" (Dwek, 2015). (see Blendspace Tile 3)

The following four journal articles will help online instructors better understand this immensely studied theory of aptitude.

Research of Carol Dwek

• In one of her recent journal articles, Raising Smart Kids (2015), Carol S. Dwek explains that she has been investigating human motivation since the 1960s when she was a psychology graduate student at Yale University.
• She began researching the idea of learned helplessness. She wondered “Why do some learners give up when they encounter difficulty, whereas others who are no more skilled continue to strive and learn?" (Dwek, 2015)
• After several years of working in the classroom, Dwek discovered a broader view that learners can have one of two types of intelligence – helpless and mastery-oriented.
• Helpless learners believe that intelligence is a fixed trait also known as a “fixed mindset”. These types of learners avoid challenges to avoid looking less smart.
• On the other hand, mastery-oriented children believe that intelligence can be developed through hard work and dedication. These types of learners are more likely to outperform the learners with a fixed mindset.
• Dwek validated these viewpoints in a 2007 study that she was involved in. She and two of her colleagues monitored 373 learners for two years during their transition to middle school, when work and grades begin to have higher stakes.

As we had predicted, the learners with a growth mindset felt that learning was a more important goal in school than getting good grades…The learners who held a fixed mindset, however, were concerned about looking smart with less regard for learning. (Dwek, 2015)

Other Studies by Carol Dwek

Dwek also helped design an eight-session workshop for 91 learners whose math grades were declining in their first year of middle school. 27 percent of the learners  that were given growth mindset training began to bounce back to their earlier levels, whereas only nine percent of the learners in the control group began to show improvement (Dwek, 2015).

The fact that Dwek has been actively researching the topic of learned helplessness since the 1960s in her own classrooms shows much strength in her findings. In a 2014 TedTalks video, she speaks much of the topic and her research (see Blendspace Tile 5).

Continuing Dwek's Research

Dwek also uses large populations, as well as longitudinal studies, providing reliability to her research.

A weakness is the fact that she displays the two intelligences in such black and white terms. She does not explain the possibility that many learners could fall somewhere in between the two mindsets. Some may also argue that smartness cannot be fully determined by one’s own mindset. Some people still hold the traditional beliefs that intelligence is fixed and genetics plays a big factor on how smart a person is.

To learn more about Dwek’s research on growth mindset, see Blendspace Tile 7 and Blendspace Tile 8. There are also a few podcast episodes where Dwek explains the theory. She discusses her book, Mindset (2006) as well as how one can develop their own mindset (see Blendspace Tile 9 and Blendspace Tile 10).

• Decades of Scientific Research that Started a Growth Mindset Revolution - This website displays many resources dealing with growth mindset for both teachers and parents, specifically extracted from Carol Dwek's research.
• Carol Dwek Revisits the 'Growth Mindset' - In 2015, Carol Dwek writes her own commentary on revisiting the topic of growth mindset.
• Dr. Carol Dwek | The Motivated Mindset (Episode 445) - Carol Dwek discusses her book, Mindset, and how one can develop their own growth mindset.

It can sometimes be challenging for instructional designers to connect their learners if they aren't using effective research based learning techniques.

Understanding the theory of growth mindset is essential for instructional designers to be the most effective designers that they can be.