Session Information
01 SES 16 C, Research on Students’ Motivation and Learning
Paper Session
Contribution
Abstract
Nowadays, scientists have made enormous discoveries in the fields of neuroscience and neuropsychology. However, to translate these findings to classroom teaching and learning process in order boost academic achievements requires another branch of investigation. Consequently, teachers carried out action research to examine the usefulness of the concept in benefiting students of different age groups, culture, gender, etc. At the end, action researchers drew conclusion recommending the selective adoption of the pre-existing ideas. In his book called “how the brain learns”, David Sousa (2016) states: The cognitive belief system is a window through which we can see the world to understand it, there is a self-concept underlying the cognitive belief system. Self-concept means how we understand ourselves in the world. One of the most important components of our self-concept is a mindset. There are two basic types of mindsets: fixed mindset and growth mindset. Neuro scientist David Huberman from Sandford university explains the process-effort reward concept from the point of view of Neuroscience and in terms of the chemical neurotransmitters, and concludes that if you recognise the agitation, stress and confusion as an entry point to where you eventually want to go, it is allowed to pass through more easily, and rewarding it makes you feel joyful in the process. (David Huberman, 2021). This action research will examine the effect of the mind-set in enhancing the teaching and learning in the classroom.
Introduction
The term “growth mindset” was coined by psychologist Carol Dweck in the mid-eighties. “The “Growth Mindset” is the belief that mindset can be changed, especially in the education system, it refers to the belief that a student’s intelligence or learning ability can be improved when teachers give praise for the effort” (Carol Dweck, 2017). Dweck argued that we all have different beliefs about the underlying nature of ability; children and adults with a growth mindset believe that intelligence and abilities can be developed through effort, persistence, trying different strategies and learning from mistakes (Carol Dweck, 2017). Dweck argues that having a growth mindset can improve academic achievements.Dweck introduces simple methods for teachers to apply during lesson time to improve students’ experiences and academic achievements. She provides two simple tools to encourage students’ growth mindset in her ted-talk. She states the praising students’ effort and rewarding their process help to master their growth mindset and boost their academic achievements. (Carol Dweck 2014).
A search of the available literature found that there are currently no studies testing the value of growth mindset approaches in Kazakhstan. By analysing our own teaching experience and observing our colleagues' lessons over the years, I noticed that in most cases, students were praised for their intelligence and rewarded only for their achievements.
Despite being selected through examination, NIS school students have a wide range of abilities within each grade, even within each class. Students in Kazakhstan, especially those who have lower achievement levels, may find that using the growth mindset approach improves their learning experiences and academic achievements. To determine how the growth mindset intervention could benefit learners in Kazakhstan, called for an action research. This research will focus on the relevance of the concept to the Kazakh curriculum and possible pitfalls to avoid in the future while successfully implementing it in the classroom teaching and learning practices. To qualify the research process, the following research question was formulated:
What benefits can periodic use of “praising effort” instead of “intelligence rewarding” of achievement bring to academic achievement of year-12 students?
Method
During the study in NIS PhM in Nur-Sultan, all teachers who teach any subject to the eleven-grade students were trained for growth mindset intervention. A team was created to carry out this research throughout the academic year, the team had regular weekly meeting to plan, analyse, make changes and identify next steps. The intervention was applied to all grade 11 students, but focus group for the observation was mainly the students with lower academic achievement. Because there is no bigger room for students with higher academic achievement. (Yeager, 2019). But it is expected that high achiever students might show interest in other extra curricula activities to enrich their potentials, since there are plenty of opportunities in NIS for self-development. Observational data was collected on first and last week of each academic term throughout the intervention period. But the observation and teacher training was taking place regularly throughout the period to make sure the intervention was taking place. To increase the credibility and validity of research, a three-tier data collection method was employed: student survey, observation lessons (focus criteria is introduced below) and compering term final exam results. Firstly, students were asked to complete growth mindset questionnaire by Carol Dweck, which is designed to identify the level of their mindset, the survey was improved with the help of the school psychologists. Secondly, lesson observations were made through following focus criteria: • teachers’ phrases/ways to praise the students • volunteering for answering the teacher’s questions • focus levels to the tasks • taking notes during lessons • students’ interactions with their classmates during lessons • performance level of their classwork • performance level of their homework During the lesson observations, how teachers’ language and approaches of giving feedback supports the implementation growth mindset was analysed and training was organised in case of a lapse. Growth mindset students value the effort rather than showing off. Fixed mindset students are reluctant to put effort on learning, because they think putting too much effort means less intelligence. (Carol, 2016). Thirdly, students’ exam results will be analysed throughout the intervention period, mainly their before and after intervention term summative exam results were compared, in addition, their results were compared to previous year students’ results in general, and their daily progress also was analysed with the help of their teachers.
Expected Outcomes
In applying growth mindset teaching methods in a (year 11) participant group, this study aims to identify potential methods for improving students’ learning experiences and academic outcomes. This study provided insights into… o Ways of identifying the students’ current mindset o Student experiences and their reaction to feedback from teachers o Teacher experiences on giving feedback to students and an analysis of what messages teachers are sending to students when they’re giving feedback. o Methods of encouraging students to work harder o The roles of self-esteem and delf-concept in learning o Potential value in adopting the growth mindset method in Kazak context From classroom observation several positive results are expected: firstly, teachers become more emphasise the student’s effort rather than the students’ achievements in their feedback, some teacher found the approaches to reward students’ learning process, which motivates them even deeper. Consequently, there were significant improvements in students’ behaviours as well. Students gain a deeper insight into that achievement is based on a hard work, they understood that more effort can bring more success. After being periodical praised, they started to enjoy much the learning process, so hard working became a usual joyful moment for them. Secondly, there was a considerable increasing trend in students’ term final exam results, since the most noticeable changes were in the low-achieving students’ results. Thirdly, from analysis of survey result, we witnessed these: students’ concept about hard-working students was changed, their self-esteem on their learning was improved, they became willing to take more responsible for their behaviours, they value the effort more, they will embrace challenges, they have character of persisting in face of setbacks, they will see efforts as path to mastery, they will have willing to learn from criticism, they will find inspiration from others’ success. (Carol Dweck, 2017)
References
References 1.Carol Dweck, 2017. Mindset: Changing the Way You think To Fulfil Your Potential. Robinson. 2.David Anthony Sousa, 2016, How the Brain Learns, 3.Carol Dweck, 2014. The power of believing that you can improve, TEDx Norrkoping. 4.Yeager, D.S., Hanselman, P., Walton, G.M. et al. A national experiment reveals where a growth mindset improves achievement. Nature 573, 364–369 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1466-y 5.Zhang, J. F., Kuu- sisto, E., & Tirri, K. (2017). How Teachers’ and Students’ Mindsets in Learning Have Been Studied: Research Findings on Mind- set and Academic Achievement. Psychology, 8, 1363-1377. https://doi.org/10.4236/psych.2017.89089 6.Mueller, C. M., & Dweck, C. S. (1998). Praise for intelligence can undermine children's motivation and performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75(1), 33–52. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.75.1.33 8.Hatice uluduz, Ilhan Gunbayi, ministry of national education, akdeniz university, faculty of education, Turkey. 2018. Growth mindset in the classroom. https://www.oapub.org/edu/index.php/ejes/article/view/1777/4417 9.Zhao Y, Niu G, Hou H, Zeng G, Xu L, Peng K and Yu F (2018) From Growth Mindset to Grit in Chinese Schools: The Mediating Roles of Learning Motivations. Front. Psychol. 9:2007. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02007 10.Susan Hallam * & Judith Ireson (2005) Secondary school teachers' pedagogic practices when teaching mixed and structured ability classes, Research Papers in Education, 20:1, 324, DOI: 10.1080/0267152052000341318 11.De Kraker-Pauw E, Van Wesel F, Krabbendam L and Van Atteveldt N (2017) Teacher Mindsets Concerning the Malleability of Intelligence and the Appraisal of Achievement in the Context of Feedback. Front. Psychol. 8:1594. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01594 12.Elizabeth R. Peterson, S. Earl Irving, 2008, Secondary school students' conceptions of assessment and feedback, Learning and Instruction, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2007.05.001 13.Xing S, Gao X, Jiang Y, Archer M and Liu X (2018) Effects of Ability and Effort Praise on Children’s Failure Attribution, Self-Handicapping, and Performance. Front. Psychol. 9:1883. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01883 14. Hsieh H-F, Shannon SE. Three Approaches to Qualitative Content Analysis. Qualitative Health Research. 2005;15(9):1277-1288. doi:10.1177/1049732305276687 15.Ho AD, Yu CC. Descriptive Statistics for Modern Test Score Distributions: Skewness, Kurtosis, Discreteness, and Ceiling Effects. Educational and Psychological Measurement. 2015;75(3):365-388. doi:10.1177/0013164414548576 16.Smyth, S. (2017). ‚A Growth Mindset Approach to supporting children who experience anxiety‛, University of Victoria 17.Podcast: Change Your Brain: Neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Huberman | Rich Roll Podcast, 2021
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