Teachers’ belief that math requires innate ability predicts lower intrinsic motivation among low-achieving students

Heyder, Anke; Weidinger, Anne F.; Cimpian, Andrei; Steinmayr, Ricarda

doi:10.1016/j.learninstruc.2019.101220

Cited by 88 publications

(87 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…As reported in a previous study (Heyder et al, 2019), teachers on average perceived success in math as requiring a moderate amount of innate ability, M = 4.17, SD = 1.12. In order to explore whether this belief relates to the gender gap in students' ability self-concept and teachers' aptitude ratings, we ran two series of cross-level interaction models including different control variables (see Tables 2, 3).…”

Section: Moderation By Teachers' Math Brilliance Beliefssupporting

confidence: 72%

“…First studies showed that U.S. American teachers held more fixed views of intelligence for math and science performance compared to performance in languages (Patterson et al, 2016). The construct of brilliance beliefs has so far been studied only once outside the United States, that is in an elementary school teacher sample from Germany (Heyder et al, 2019). It was found that also this group of socializers held stronger brilliance beliefs for math than language arts although their mean level was lower than in prior US studies with academics or lay persons from the general public (see Meyer et al, 2015).The finding that in both countries, that is, Germany and the US, there are domain differences in brilliance beliefs is in line with the fact that both countries are considered Western industrialized countries that with-at least in parts-shared beliefs and stereotypes (Wilde and Diekman, 2005).…”

Section: Brilliance Beliefs and Women's Underrepresentation In Stemmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Brilliance beliefs are powerful predictors of women's underrepresentation in certain fields in academia such as STEM domains (e.g., Leslie et al, 2015;Storage et al, 2016). A recent study showed that also German elementary school teachers believed that success in math requires more innate ability than success in language (Heyder et al, 2019). Further, elementary school girls have been found to report a less positive ability self-concept than boys despite their comparable competences (e.g., Herbert and Stipek, 2005;Ganley and Lubienski, 2016) and also teachers perceive boys as more talented in math than girls (e.g., Li, 1999;Tiedemann, 2000a).…”

Section: Study Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For this study, we re-analyzed the elementary school data set from the FA(IR)BULOUS Study, a German research project on social inequality in school transitions (Steinmayr et al, 2017). The FA(IR)BULOUS data set had already been analyzed in a prior study on the role of teachers' math-specific ability beliefs for lowachieving students' intrinsic motivation in math (Heyder et al, 2019). This study exceeds the former study by focusing on gender differences in ability self-concept in math and how they are related to teachers' math-specific ability beliefs.…”

Section: Samplementioning

confidence: 99%

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Do Teachers' Beliefs About Math Aptitude and Brilliance Explain Gender Differences in Children's Math Ability Self-Concept?

2019

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The self-concept of ability in math in elementary school is an early predictor for future math-related choices and careers. Unfortunately, already at this early age girls report lower ability self-concepts in math than boys-despite their comparable performances in objective math competence tests. In the present study we focus on teachers' beliefs as factors explaining these gender differences. Women's underrepresentation in math and science in academia has recently been explained by the belief held by the environment that success in these domains requires an innate ability that cannot be taught ("brilliance"). In addition, teachers' beliefs regarding their students' mathematical aptitude have also been found to influence students' self-concepts of ability. Here, we study if teachers' beliefs regarding their students' mathematical aptitude and brilliance beliefs may account for gender differences in elementary school students' self-concept of ability in math and thus potentially contribute to entering the gendered path into math and science professions. In a sample of 830 fourth graders (M = 9.14 years old, 49% female) and 56 elementary school teachers from Germany, we assessed teachers' beliefs regarding their students' mathematical aptitude and their belief that children need brilliance to succeed in math as well as children's mathematical ability self-concept and competencies. In line with prior research, boys reported a statistically significantly more positive math ability self-concept (d = 0.50), although boys and girls reached similar scores in a standardized math competence test (d = 0.07). However, multilevel regression analyses revealed that teachers' math brilliance beliefs were not related to the gender gap in students' ability self-concept in expense of girls whereas the gender gap was mediated by teachers' beliefs about their students' mathematical aptitude. These findings suggest that math brilliance beliefs held by important socializers such as teachers might not play a role in explaining gender differences in math-related motivation in elementary school whereas teachers' beliefs about students' math aptitude do. Results are discussed against the background of teacher expectancy effects, developmental changes in elementary school, and cultural differences.

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Section: Moderation By Teachers' Math Brilliance Beliefssupporting

confidence: 72%

Section: Brilliance Beliefs and Women's Underrepresentation In Stemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Study Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Samplementioning

confidence: 99%

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Do Teachers' Beliefs About Math Aptitude and Brilliance Explain Gender Differences in Children's Math Ability Self-Concept?

2019

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“…So, the design of activity units for specialty-oriented career group counseling may incorporate the building of positive beliefs, clarification of value orientation, and the strengthening of time management, study methods, and test strategies, etc. Research by Heyder, Weidinger, Cimpian & Steinmayr (2020) finds that if teachers believe that mathematics requires innate abilities, then they may lack the motivation to stimulate the intrinsic motivation of students with low-grades. These results indicate that teachers' beliefs that success in studying math depends on innate abilities may be a major obstacle to creating a conducive classroom atmosphere.…”

Section: Low-achieving College Studentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of a Career Group Counseling Mix Model on Satisfaction of Low-achieving College Students──Specialty-Oriented Career Exploration Group Counseling

Peng¹,

Shih²,

Chang³

2020

IJPS

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The unique feature of the group counseling program in this study is the integration of group counseling, individual counseling and peer tutoring. This study aims to determine the satisfaction level of low-achieving college students, who participated in the "Specialty-oriented Career Exploration" group counseling mix model. This study is an action research that lasts one semester. The research samples are 12 low-achieving freshmen students in the Finance Department of a business university (these students, as recommended by the class mentor, achieved average performance in the last fifth tier in their first semester), who participated in all three phases of career group counseling mix model. The unique feature of the group counseling program instituted in this study is the integration of group counseling, individual counseling and peer tutoring: (1) Phase 1: Group counseling before the mid-term exams, which included the design of structured career group counseling activities that were held eight times in eight weeks; (2) Phase 2: Individual counseling performed after mid-term exams; (3) Peer tutoring added to the process. According to the statistical analysis results of the satisfaction questionnaire, the results of the questionnaire show that they are very satisfied with the appropriateness of the overall planning (M=4.8; S=0.16); and that Specialty-oriented Career Counseling mix model is very helpfulimportant for individuals thinking about future careers (M=4.6; S=0.24).  The preventive measures adopted by the career counseling program received positive responses from students who participated in this career counseling group mix model, that they then became familiar with the counseling center. Group members who had serious emotional and interpersonal problems were willing to seek out counselors in the collage counseling center and continue with individual counseling. This study recommended that individual counseling or peer tutoring can be arranged after specialty-oriented career exploration group counseling, in order to meet the career counseling needs for various low-achieving college students. Lastly, this study offers specific suggestions, based on the research results, for "specialty-oriented career group counseling" in higher education to enhance the diversified contents of college career counseling.

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Engineering stress culture: Relationships among mental health, engineering identity, and sense of inclusion

Jensen

Cross

2021

J of Engineering Edu

117

104

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Background: Stress is commonly experienced by college students, especially engineering students. However, the role of stress within engineering culture and its implications for engineering programs have not been fully explored in the literature. Purpose/Hypothesis: The purpose of this study was to measure and examine the relationships among self-reported stress, anxiety, and depression; engineering identity; and perceptions of inclusion of undergraduate engineering students.Design/Method: We validated a quantitative survey instrument built on previously published scales and used it to measure self-reported stress, anxiety, and depression; engineering identity; and perceptions of inclusion. Results: Our findings indicate that self-reported levels of stress, anxiety, and depression are high for engineering students. Further, levels of stress and anxiety are significantly higher for female students, while levels of depression are higher for first-generation students. We find correlations between self-reported mental health symptoms, engineering identity, and perceptions of inclusion, and these relationships differ by gender. Lastly, we find that students underrepresented in engineering rate their departments as less diverse than their peers. Conclusions: Our results suggest that perceptions of inclusion and engineering identity are related to student mental health, further emphasizing the importance of developing inclusive cultures in engineering programs. The findings suggest that mental health needs greater attention in engineering education, particularly for female and first-generation students.

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Teachers’ belief that math requires innate ability predicts lower intrinsic motivation among low-achieving students

Cited by 88 publications

References 60 publications

Do Teachers' Beliefs About Math Aptitude and Brilliance Explain Gender Differences in Children's Math Ability Self-Concept?

Do Teachers' Beliefs About Math Aptitude and Brilliance Explain Gender Differences in Children's Math Ability Self-Concept?

The Impact of a Career Group Counseling Mix Model on Satisfaction of Low-achieving College Students──Specialty-Oriented Career Exploration Group Counseling

Engineering stress culture: Relationships among mental health, engineering identity, and sense of inclusion

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