A Growth Mind-Set Intervention Improves Interest but Not Academic Performance in the Field of Computer Science

Abstract

We investigated whether a growth mindset intervention could be leveraged to promote performance and interest in computer science, through what mechanisms it might do so, and whether effects were stronger for women than for men. In particular, we explored whether the growth mindset intervention improved academic performance and career interest by increasing intrinsic value. We developed and tested a scalable, online, 4-session growth mindset intervention at 7 universities, across 16 introductory computer science classes ( N = 491). The intervention did not have a significant total effect on academic performance, although it indirectly improved grades via value. Additionally, the intervention, relative to the control, improved interest in the field and value also mediated this effect. Counter to expectations, the intervention worked equally well for women and men. Theoretical and practical applications are discussed.

Fostering Equitable Outcomes in Introductory Biology Courses through Use of a Dual Domain Pedagogy

“…Further studies will be necessary to better understand the differential effect of active learning on the academic performance of Latin@ and Black students. Prior studies have demonstrated the positive impact of messaging for helping students transition from a fixed to a growth mindset about their learning (Blackwell et al, 2007;Burnette et al, 2019). Yet in the present study, we did not observe a measurable change in students' growth mindset in response to DDP, even though this pedagogy helped us to eradicate or narrow performance gaps in our introductory biology courses.…”

Knowledge or Abilities? How Undergraduates Define Intelligence

“…Some of these interventions have benefited students-improving academic performance, increasing persistence in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), and eliminating gender and racial achievement gaps (e.g., Blackwell et al, 2007;Good et al, 2003;Yeager et al, 2014Yeager et al, , 2019Fink et al, 2018). However, many attempts to replicate these benefits have failed to do so (e.g., Dommett et al, 2013;Sriram, 2014;Orosz et al, 2017;Burnette et al, 2020). In fact, two recent meta-analyses have raised questions about the strength of the link between mindset and academic performance.…”

Investigating the Impact of Employing Multiple Interventions in a CS1 Course

“…However, impacts of such interventions specifically in introductory programming courses have been mixed. A large-scale study that was published while we were in the middle of our study also failed to observe performance gains (or gender differences) from growth mindset interventions in introductory computing courses [5]. That paper also found what seems to be common in introductory programming courses: students have a pretty strong growth mindset orientation from the start.…”

“…Another intervention conducted across multiple institutions also found no significant difference in the mindsets between experimental and control groups [37]. Notably, a recent, large, multi-institutional study on growth mindset interventions in C courses found that these interventions increased students' interest in CS but did not improve their performance [5].…”

“…First, growth mindset and values interventions have been shown to improve student performance and retention in STEM courses, particularly for students from underrepresented groups [2,3,8,12,16,17]. On the other hand, a recent large multi-institutional study found that growth mindset interventions improved interest in CS but not performance [5]. Second, the concept of a "Thinkathon"-a session in which students solve progressively more difficult problems on paper-was shown to have a positive impact on students' exam grades, and students perceived a high amount of value from it [7].…”