No description available.

Psychosocial interventions to cultivate functional motivational beliefs in students are becoming increasingly popular. However, in education it is easy to prematurely place hope in promising, emerging techniques and ideas before they are fully explored through research. This study seeks to add to the body of knowledge examining psychosocial interventions by investigating one of the constructs popularly targeted in these interventions: self-theories of intelligence (STIs). Within this study, STIs are explored within a previously tested model of motivational variables (goal orientations, effort beliefs, interest, causal attributions, and failure response). The addition of metacognition to this model of achievement motivation is also investigated. Because research has suggested that STIs may be domain-specific, this study focused on STIs in the domain of science. Within this study, I used a self-report instrument comprised of seven subscales (each representing one motivational variable) to collect information on the achievement motivation of rural middle school students in the domain of science. Students from three schools in two counties in rural southwest Virginia participated in the study (n = 367). Independent and paired-samples t-tests, confirmatory factor analysis, mediational analyses, and structural equation modeling were used to answer the following four research questions. 1. To what extent are rural middle school students' self-theories of intelligence fixed or malleable in the domain of science? 2. To what extent do rural middle schools students have metacognitive knowledge and skills in the domain of science? 3. Does metacognition mediate the relationship between a malleable belief of intelligence and positive effort beliefs? 4. To what extent does the Blackwell, Trzesniewski, and Dweck (2007) model fit data obtained from rural middle school students in the domain of science? The results showed that the participants expressed a significant malleable view of intelligence, and demonstrated moderate amounts of metacognitive knowledge and skills. Metacognition was shown to be a significant mediator of STIs and effort beliefs. Standardized path coefficients for the achievement motivation model were significant; however, model fit indices revealed that this model may not be an adequate fit for these students' beliefs in the domain of science. / Ph. D.

Thesis advisor: George M. Barnett / There is currently a shortage of students graduating with STEM (science, technology, engineering, or mathematics) degrees, particularly women and students of color. Approximately half of students who begin a STEM major eventually switch out. Many switchers cite the competitiveness, grading curves, and weed-out culture of introductory STEM classes as reasons for the switch. Variables known to influence resilience include a student's implicit theory of intelligence and achievement goal orientation. Incremental theory (belief that intelligence is malleable) and mastery goals (pursuit of increased competence) are more adaptive in challenging classroom contexts. This dissertation investigates the role that college science grading policies and messages about the importance of effort play in shaping both implicit theories and achievement goal orientation. College students (N = 425) were randomly assigned to read one of three grading scenarios: (1) a "mastery" scenario, which used criterion-referenced grading, permitted tests to be retaken, and included a strong effort message; (2) a "norm" scenario, which used norm-referenced grading (grading on the curve); or (3) an "effort" scenario, which combined a strong effort message with the norm-referenced policies. The dependent variables included implicit theories of intelligence, perceived classroom goal structure, and self-efficacy. A different sample of students (N = 15) were randomly assigned a scenario to read, asked to verbalize their thoughts, and responded to questions in a semi-structured interview. Results showed that students reading the mastery scenario were more likely to endorse an incremental theory of intelligence, perceived greater mastery goal structure, and had higher self-efficacy. The effort message had no effect on self-efficacy, implicit theory, and most of the goal structure measures. The interviews revealed that it was the retake policy in the mastery scenario and the competitive atmosphere in the norm-referenced scenarios that were likely driving the results. Competitive grading policies appear to be incompatible with mastery goals, cooperative learning, and a belief in the efficacy of effort. Implications for college STEM instruction are discussed. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2015. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

<p>Previous research has largely highlighted the maladaptive consequences of holding an entity theory of intelligence and the adaptive consequences of holding an incremental theory (for reviews, see Dweck, 1999; Dweck & Leggett, 1988). This research, however, has largely ignored the role of the achievement context and how it may conflict with the goals that naturally arise from implicit theories of intelligence. The present research demonstrates that the adaptiveness of theories of intelligence may depend on the demands of the situation. Across two studies, the most adaptive motivation, affect, and use of self-regulatory resources was observed when entity theorists pursued performance goals and when incremental theorists pursued learning goals (fit). Conversely, maladaptive outcomes were observed when entity theorists pursued learning goals and when incremental theorists pursued performance goals (nonfit). For several achievement-related outcomes, however, this pattern of results was moderated by perceived competence, suggesting that fit may be most adaptive when confidence in abilities is high, and nonfit may be most adaptive when it is low. Implications for achievement motivation and goal pursuit are discussed.</p> / Dissertation

Institutions of higher education continue to try and find new ways to help students persist in college (Kinzie & Kuh, 2017). One compelling tool to help students succeed comes from Dweck’s (1999) Mindset model. The model depicts intelligence as either fixed or growth; meaning intelligence can be viewed as unchangeable or malleable. Students with a growth mindset recover from failure quicker, overcome challenges faster, and see difficulty as a positive challenge instead of questioning their intelligence. With the many challenges domestic students face persisting in college, international students studying abroad face additional factors inhibiting their motivation and ability to succeed. The primary purpose of this study was to determine whether Dweck’s (1999) 8-item Mindset sub-scale could be valid with international students studying within the United States. A multiple-sample confirmatory factor analysis using maximum likelihood estimation was used to assess measurement invariance with domestic (n = 1809) and international (n = 275) students at a large-midwestern university. The secondary purpose was to determine whether GPA, gender, year-in-school, English language proficiency, and first-generation status impacted international student mindset scores. A seemingly unrelated regression was used to determine if there were any differences in the sub-group population of international students (n = 268). Results indicated Dweck’s (1999) Mindset Scale is valid for use with international students studying within the U.S. and significant differences were found in the mindset scores within gender, academic rank, age, and first-generation status. The results of this study inform the literature and institutions of higher education on how Dweck’s (1999) mindset model can be used as another tool to help international students succeed in college. Future research implications were shared and discussed.

Students tend to choose a field of study in which they believe they possess the most skills by comparing their performance across different domains, such as math and English. These intraindividual comparisons between domains are known as dimensional comparisons (Möller & Marsh, 2013). There are individual differences in dimensional comparisons, such that some students engage in stronger comparisons than others do, yet few studies have examined the sources of these individual differences. In addition to objective performance, students sometimes also receive subjective feedback (e.g., praise) from parents and teachers. However, it is unknown whether and how this feedback influences dimensional comparisons to shape students’ domain-specific motivational beliefs. Therefore, we first examined whether theories of intelligence (TOIs) moderated dimensional comparison processes in different age groups in two studies. We then investigated whether receiving disproportionate praise in different domains affected students’ domain-specific motivational beliefs. Results showed that incremental TOI moderated math grades’ relation to verbal competence self-concepts in 10th and 11th graders (N = 140). It also moderated verbal grades’ relation to verbal intrinsic values in 1st- to 5th-year college students (N = 136). However, we did not find such moderations in other age groups. Regarding the praise manipulation, 7th to 9th graders (N = 108) showed heightened verbal competence self-concepts after receiving praise on either math or verbal performance. First- to fifth-year college students also showed increased verbal intrinsic values after receiving praise on verbal performance. TOI moderated students’ responses to praise manipulations. These studies shed light on students’ development of domain-specific motivational beliefs and inspire future research. / Psychology

The intent of this two-phase, sequential explanatory mixed methods study was to examine the role teachers' beliefs play when making instructional decisions. The population included in-service teachers representing four Career and Technical Education disciplines located within the commonwealth of Virginia. Using a stratified random sample, 622 teachers were selected for the quantitative strand, and employing a system of four contacts, quantitative data were collected from 292 participants. Dweck's Theories of Intelligence scale assessed the nature of in-service teachers' beliefs about intelligence, and the Epistemic Belief Inventory was used to measure their epistemological beliefs. Finally, the participants rated their use of teacher-centered and student-centered teaching methods. In the second phase, qualitative data were collected from nine participants to further understand how in-service teachers' beliefs are related to the teaching practices they use. The quantitative and qualitative data were combined to determine if the descriptions of teaching method used, beliefs about intelligence, and epistemological beliefs aligned with the outcomes of the quantitative questionnaire. Significant correlations existed between the Theories of Intelligence scale and the Epistemic Belief Inventory. A significant positive relationship existed between the Epistemic Beliefs Inventory and the overall teaching practices score, indicating in-service teachers' advanced epistemological beliefs are related to the use of student-centered teaching practices. A regression analysis indicated that teaching discipline, epistemological beliefs, teaching experience, and highest level of education completed predicted the teaching practices in-service teachers' select. The qualitative data supported the claim that beliefs about intelligence and epistemological beliefs influence teaching practices. Six themes emerged from the qualitative data, and the themes were used as a framework for organizing the findings. The researcher acknowledges that teachers possess a variety of beliefs, and those beliefs influence how teachers teach. The researcher recommends that teacher educators attempt to identify the beliefs pre-service teachers hold, and if modifications of beliefs are needed, facilitate interventions to modify those beliefs. While some have labeled the direct relationship between teacher beliefs and teaching practices as "messy", the evidence indicates the two, are in fact, related. / Ph. D.

Denna studie har två övergripande syften. Det första är att undersöka om gymnasieelever tror att de kan påverka sin matematiska intelligens eller inte. Det andra syftet är att undersöka hur gymnasieelevers hjälpsökande beteende ser ut och vilka faktorer som påverkar dessa beteenden. Data samlades in via enkäter på i en skola i Norrbotten, totalt besvarade 250 gymnasieelever enkäten. Resultatet från undersökningen visade att gymnasieeleverna generellt hade en mer dynamisk än statisk syn på sin egen matematiska intelligens. Resultatet visade även att andelen gymnasieelever som hade ett undvikande hjälpsökande beteende var 21.6 % samt att få gymnasieelever sökte hjälp publikt medan merparten av gymnasieeleverna sökte hjälp privat, dock i olika hög grad. Slutligen visade resultatet att gymnasieelevernas undvikande hjälpsökande beteende påverkades av deras rädsla att uppfattas som dum av klasskamrater och utav deras syn på sin egen matematiska intelligens. Resultatet visade även att gymnasieelevernas publika hjälpsökande beteende korrelerade med deras rädsla att uppfattas som dum utav klasskamrater. / This study has two overall aims. The first is to investigate whether high school students believe that they can influence their mathematical intelligence or not. The second aim is to investigate high school students' help-seeking behaviour and which factors influence these behaviours. Data was collected via questionnaires at a school in Norrbotten, a total of 250 high school students answered the questionnaire. The results of the survey showed that the high school students generally had a more dynamic than static view of their own mathematical intelligence. The results also showed that the percentage of high school students who had an avoidant helpseeking behaviour was 21.6% and that few high school students sought help publicly, while most high school students sought help privately, although to varying degrees. Finally, the results showed that high school students' avoidant help-seeking behaviour was influenced by their fear of being perceived as dumb by classmates and by their view of their own mathematical intelligence. The results also showed that the high school students' public helpseeking behaviour correlated with their fear of being perceived as dumb by their classmates.

<p>Students hold a number of personal theories about education that influence motivation and achievement in the classroom: theories about their own abilities, knowledge, and the learning process. Therefore, college instructors have a great interest in helping to develop adaptive personal theories in their students. The current studies investigated whether specific messages that instructors send in college classroom might serve as a mechanism of personal theory development. Across 2 studies, 17 college instructors and 401 students completed surveys assessing their personal theories about education at the beginning and end of college courses. Students and instructors reported hearing and sending many messages in the classroom, including instructor help messages, conciliatory messages, uncertainty in the field messages, differential ability messages and generalized positive and negative feedback. Between-class and within-class differences in message reports were associated with students’ personal theories at the end of their courses, controlling for initial personal theories. Students’ initial personal theories were also related to the messages students reported hearing. The findings demonstrate the utility of assessing non-content messages in college classrooms as potential mechanisms for changing students’ personal theories in college. Implications for research and practice are discussed.</p> / Dissertation

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Background: Gross anatomy is a foundational medical school course upon which other courses and patient care is grounded; however, variability in student performance suggests potential in studying underlying non-academic factors to explain some of these inconsistencies. Thus, this study examined medical students’ implicit theories of intelligence (ITI) and grit in order to better understand student learning outcomes in gross anatomy. Methods: A mixed methods study was conducted using 2nd, 3rd, and 4th year medical students who successfully completed gross anatomy. Students (n=382) completed the ITI Scale and Short Grit Scale in order to identify individual’s ITI and grit scores. Subsequent interviews (n=25) were conducted to explore how medical students set goals, operated while reaching those goals, and monitored their progress in achieving those goals. Results: Entity and incremental theorists with high grit performed significantly better in gross anatomy when compared to those with low grit. Further, highly gritty incremental and entity theorists were hard workers and showed resilience in the face of challenges. Specifically, those with an entity ITI had the central goal of getting an honors grade, while those with an incremental ITI desired to understand and apply their anatomical knowledge. Conversely, low grit individuals became overwhelmed by challenges, were more likely to show an inconsistent work ethic, and questioned their ability to master the material. An individual’s ITI, more so than grit, drove the presence of negative emotions in a medical student, with entity theorists feeling anxious and vulnerable, and incremental theorists feeling fewer negative emotions. Finally, grit level moderated how a medical student would respond to negative emotions, with highly gritty individuals exhibiting more constructive coping mechanisms. Conclusions: These findings suggest that medical students who possess high grit and an incremental theory of intelligence have the most effective learning strategies, set achievable goals, and enlist effective coping mechanisms while learning gross anatomy. The findings and tools used in this study could be incorporated into the medical school admissions process. Finally, findings reinforce the value of examining the ITI and grit of medical students, as they can provide educators with insight regarding important non-academic factors driving learning in gross anatomy.