Blackwell et al.'s Study on Mindsets and Math Achievement

This page details two studies conducted by Blackwell et al., investigating the correlation between mindset and math achievement and the effects of mindset interventions on student performance.

Study 1: Longitudinal Correlation Study

This study examined the relationship between students' mindsets and their math achievement over five years.

Methodology:

• 373 students from a public secondary school in New York
• Diverse sample in terms of ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and achievement
• Students completed a motivational questionnaire at the start of 7th grade
• Math scores from 6th, 7th, and 8th grades were compared to measure progress

Findings:

• No significant correlation between mindsets and math scores at the start of 7th grade
• Mindset became a significant predictor of achievement later in the study
• Students with a growth mindset showed greater improvement in math scores

Highlight: The study concluded that students who believed in their capacity to change their intelligence made more significant improvements in math achievement.

Study 2: Mindset Intervention Experiment

This study investigated the effects of teaching students about the malleability of intelligence on their motivation and achievement.

Methodology:

• 99 students from a 7th grade class in a public secondary school in New York City
• Students were randomly assigned to an intervention group or a control group
• The intervention group was taught about how learning changes the brain
• The control group was taught about memory

Findings:

• Intervention group showed more growth mindsets after the 8-week program
• Teachers reported higher motivation in the intervention group
• Intervention group achieved higher scores on math tests compared to the control group

Example: The intervention group performed better on content specifically taught during the program, demonstrating the immediate impact of mindset education.

Criticisms of the Studies:

1. Cultural Bias: The studies were conducted in one part of the USA, limiting generalizability to other cultures and education systems.
2. Age Bias: Results may not apply to younger or older students.
3. Subject Limitation: Only measured achievement in math, cannot generalize to other subjects.
4. Naturalistic Study Challenges: Difficult to control all variables in a real-world setting.
5. Individual Differences: In Study 2, differences in achievement could be due to individual variations rather than solely the intervention.

Vocabulary: Longitudinal study - A research design that involves repeated observations of the same variables over long periods of time.

These studies contribute to the growing body of research articles on growth mindset, highlighting the potential positive impact of mindset intervention on student motivation and academic achievement in mathematics.