THE STORY OF STUDENT MINDSET

INTERVENTIONS: TRIGGERING AND

SUPPORTING STUDENTS’ TENACITY*

at Wilbur Wright College,

Chicago, Illinois

Presented by Sara Schupack

Director of Developmental Education*These PowerPoint slides are meant as a companion piece to the booklet to be handed out at the

presentation.

HOW WE GOT EXCITED ABOUT GROWTH MINDSET WORK

Productive Persistence from Carnegie Foundation

Holistic Placement, with ETS’ SuccessNavigator ™• Delivers students’ non-cognitive profiles

Book clubs, other work yields shared vocabulary and understandings across the institution

Focus on what we can control, not what we can’t Empowering for students, faculty, and staff

Ask students to read a 3-page research study and write a reflection piece afterward.

Remind them that intelligence is not fixed, but malleable (Fixed intelligence vs. Growth mindset).

Leads to a substantial increase in persistence rate.

GROWTH MINDSET INTERVENTIONS

QUALITATIVE RESULTS

“I have a growth mindset now that I've completed most of the class

assignments. I will overcome many challenges because of this

course.”

“What I have learned in this program helped me by building the

growth mindset that I need with reading and writing…The more I

practice the more I get better at these two subjects.”

“When I came here I had a fixed mindset because I realized that I

wouldn't be able to do any of the math and I wouldn't get a good

grade. After a while, I developed a growth mindset because I

realized that by doing this program its helping me improve my

writing and mathematical skills”.

QUANTITATIVE RESULTS

Summer Bridge Program Results, 2013Number of students who completed

42

Total Levels Skipped 47

Average Levels Skipped 1.1

Summer Bridge Program Results, 2014Number of students who completed

52

Total Levels Skipped 87

Average Levels Skipped 1.7

NEXT STEPS

Presented Growth Mindset at Faculty Development

Week and Adjunct Orientation

Invited faculty to try interventions, focusing on Dev

Ed

Lots of enthusiasm. 16 faculty volunteers

Added Value of School Work and Social Belonging

interventions

VALUE OF SCHOOLWORK INTERVENTION

Value of school refers to students recognizing the validity and usefulness of

school in general and a particular discipline or assignment as well. With faculty,

we developed these options:

Write down reasons why this week’s lesson will allow you to help yourself and/or

other people one day.

Based on what you learned this week on the topic of ___________, please write 2-3

paragraphs explaining how this week’s topic can better prepare you for your

future or how lessons learned may benefit a loved one.

What is the most salient and useful point that you learned from class this week?

In what ways will that point likely help you with (a) your personal or professional

life going forward, and (b) in what ways will it support you in helping others?

SOCIAL BELONGING INTERVENTION

Social belonging has to do with feeling that one is “college material,”

that one fits in and belongs in this particular academic community.

With faculty, we developed these activities:

Ask students to write about how they overcame any feelings of not

belonging to the college and what they have done to feel more

connected.

Ask students to write letters to incoming students in your course. In

what ways did they struggle at first, and how did they get through

those struggles and feel competent in this subject?

MESSY IS OKAY?

How do you draw the line between interventions and

pedagogy?

“I do this kind of work all the time already,” from many

faculty members

Each faculty member delivered the intervention in slightly

different ways

They work with students with different reading abilities,

needing different kinds of framing or scaffolding.

MESSY IS OKAY

If the “Growth Mindset” thinking infiltrates all that

we do as teachers and learners, we are probably

being the most effective that we can be.   Fixed Mindset

Growth Mindset

Goals Look smart (can’t look

dumb)

 Learn

Value of effort,

help, and strategies

 Lower

 Higher

Change in grades during time of

adversity

 Decrease or remain low

 Increase

Response to

challenge

Tendency to give up

Work harder and smarter

RESULTS

Developmental Math: with Growth Mindset interventions in Fall

14, we achieved the highest success rates ever.

“I feel as though I have a lot more to learn, but to me that is life

and there’s always more to learn.”

“This class is fun and challenging. I never thought these two would

go together in the same class.”

“This article actually makes me want to do a study on myself. I

want to focus on a subject I’m not good at and see if I really improve

in it. I am going to work my brain out like as if I was lifting weights.”

MORE RESULTS

“At the beginning of English 100 I felt that I did

not need to take a class under college level. However

just after the first week, I felt more than delighted

that I took this class…I am confident to say that I

have become a better writer since the beginning of

the semester and I cannot wait to improve my

writing skills even further in English 101.”

“It reminded me how much I love to learn.”

THANKS

Dean of Instruction Kevin Li

English instructor who asked about intervention vs pedagogy: Bill Marsh

Biology instructor who completed post-doctoral work on this topic and

co-presented at Faculty Development week, as well as leading the book

club on stereotype threat: Mira Kolodkin

All Wright College faculty members who supported and implemented

Mindset Interventions.

Faculty members Janet Knapp-Caporale and Joe Mustari for ongoing

input and enthusiastic participation.

REFERENCES

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REFERENCES

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REFERENCES

Li, K., Zelenka, R., Buonaguidi, L., Beckman, R., Casillas, A., Allen, F., Crouse, J.,

Hanson, M. & Robbins, S. (2013). Readiness. Behavior, and Foundational

Mathematics Course Success. Journal of Developmental Education.  37(1) , 14-22.

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psychosocial and study skills factors predict college outcomes? A meta-analysis.

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Steele, C. M. (2010). Whistling Vivaldi: How stereotypes affect us and what we

can do. New York and London: W.W. Norton & Company.

Tough, Paul. (2012). How children succeed: Grit, curiosity and the hidden power

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REFERENCES

Yeager, D.S., & Bundick, M.J. (2009). The role of purposeful work

goals in promoting meaning in life and in schoolwork during

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Yeager, D.S., & Walton, G.M. (2011). Social-psychological

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For further communication, contact Sara

Schupack: sschupack1@ccc.edu