![\"Eight](\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/855\/2017\/05\/04031723\/math.jpg\")
<\/a> Figure 1<\/strong>. Students with a growth mindset demonstrated behaviors that led to better math performance.[\/caption]\r\n\r\nThe Study Design<\/h3>\r\n
At the start of 7th grade, students completed questionnaires measuring:<\/p>\r\n
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- Mindset<\/strong> (fixed vs. growth beliefs about intelligence)<\/li>\r\n\t
- Learning goals<\/strong> (preference for easy vs. challenging work)<\/li>\r\n\t
- Beliefs about effort<\/strong> (whether hard work leads to improvement)<\/li>\r\n\t
- Attitudes about failure<\/strong> (motivating vs. discouraging)<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n
The researchers then tracked students' mathematics grades<\/strong> across both years. They chose math because students tend to hold strong beliefs about their math abilities (\"I'm good at math\" or \"I'm not a math person\"), and because math proficiency can be measured fairly objectively. However, the principles apply to any area of learning.<\/p>\r\n
Key Findings<\/h2>\r\n
Diverging Trajectories<\/h3>\r\n
The figure below shows average math grades for students with strong fixed mindsets versus strong growth mindsets.[footnote]More accurately, it shows predicted grades from growth curves based on data and using a technique called hierarchical linear modeling.[\/footnote]<\/p>\r\n
Students with mixed mindsets are not included in this graph.<\/p>\r\n
At the end of first semester, the difference was modest\u2014fewer than two points. But the trajectories diverged over time:<\/p>\r\n
- \r\n\t
- Fixed mindset students<\/strong> (red line) showed a slight decline across both years<\/li>\r\n\t
- Growth mindset students<\/strong> (green line) showed steady improvement, with average grades increasing by nearly 3 points<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n
![\"Line](\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/855\/2017\/05\/11151210\/mindsets.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\r\nFigure 7<\/strong>. Differences in math grades between those with growth and fixed mindsets.\r\n\r\n\r\nAt the beginning of the study, the students\u2014then just starting the first term of the 7th grade\u2014filled out a questionnaire about their attitudes and beliefs about learning. The table below summarizes these differences.[footnote]This table is not in the research paper. It is based on correlations between answers to the mindset question and answers to questions about these other issues. See Table 1 of the published study.[\/footnote] The reason for these questions is an important part of the psychology of learning. Mindset itself (fixed vs. growth) doesn\u2019t cause better or worse performance. Mindset leads to behaviors (types of studying, reactions to setbacks) that in turn affects the quality of learning.<\/p>\r\n
The researchers found that children with growth mindsets (related to EFFORT praise in the first study) had different attitudes than children with fixed mindsets (related to ABILITY praise in the first study). The table below summarizes their findings.<\/p>\r\n
- Growth mindset students<\/strong> (green line) showed steady improvement, with average grades increasing by nearly 3 points<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n
- Learning goals<\/strong> (preference for easy vs. challenging work)<\/li>\r\n\t