What are the Mindsets of my 11th Grade Basic Chemistry and Accelerated Chemistry Students and How Can They be Changed Through Training?

Brent Jergens


Seminar Title


What are the Mindsets of my 11th Grade Basic Chemistry and Accelerated Chemistry Students and How Can They be Changed Through Training?


Concept/Strategy

Focus of the Research


Mindsets


Grade Level

Research Was Applied


11th Grade


Relevant Grade Level

Connections


High School


Discipline

Where Research Was Applied


Science


Additional Discipline Areas

I see Application to


All Disciplines


Invitation/Commercial


“Whether you think you can, or think you can’t, you’re probably right.” This simple statement by Henry Ford is packed with enormous implications. It summarizes what I see as the importance of mindset--it is a predictor of how much effort students will put forth in their learning and therefore how much they will achieve. Through my research, I developed 12 Growth Mindset Mini-lessons that I used with my 11th grade basic and accelerated students each week throughout the semester. Through these interventions and working to create a growth culture, most of my students’ mindsets became more growth-oriented. I also compared the mindsets of my basic chemistry and accelerated students and investigated correlations between males and females, and socioeconomic status.


Abstract


Over the past decade there has been a proliferation of research and discussion regarding the power of students’ mindsets and the effect that it can have on their learning. Since I teach two levels of chemistry, a basic chemistry course and an accelerated chemistry course, I was interested in investigating mindset differences among these two groups. My literature review suggested that that students of a higher socioeconomic status are more likely to have a growth mindset, that mindsets tend to become more fixed as people age, and that male’s are more likely than females to have a growth mindset in math and science. Through my research I have learned how to teach students about the two mindsets, specfically teach about having a growth mindset, and how to create a growth mindset culture in the classroom. I chose to make some changes to my classroom culture that were intended to help create a growth mindset culture, as well as do one lesson each week that was meant to instill a growth mindset. I found that there was a difference in the mindsset of these two groups as well as a correlation between socio-economic status and mindset. I also found that the measure of most of my students’ mindsets did increase over the course of the semester. I believe that my interventions did helped to create a culture of growth and achievement in my classroom. As a result of my interest in the impact on student’s mindsets on achievement, I plan to continue to work toward’s creating a growth mindset culture in my classroom in the upcoming semester and in future years. This year I did the same interventions with all of my classes. I am curious if I would see any changes in students’ mindsets if I did not do the interventions in some of my class periods.