Study 1

• Aim

  to see whether theories of intelligence correlate with academic achievement in mathematics and to test the impact of academic intervention.
• Hypothesis

  There will be a relationship between 7th grade students theories of intelligence (fixed or growth mindset) and their achievement grades on a standardised mathematics test
• Method

  longitudinal study (over 5 years). It was a correlational field study and it investigated student’s theories of intelligence and achievement-related beliefs, as well as this achievement in mathematics as they progressed through the seventh and eighth grades. Natural setting, in a school in New York.
• The variables were:

  1.    Students theories of intelligence

  2.    Students achievement-related beliefs

  3.    Maths achievement in seventh and eighth grade
• Sample

  373 students (198 females and 175 males) from four successive seventh grade classes at a public secondary school in New York City. Data from four cohorts of students was combined for the presentation of their results. The sample was varied in ethnicity, achievement and socioeconomic status (SES). 205 were African American, 101 were South Asian, 56 Hispanic, and 11 were East Asian and European American.
• Procedure:

  informed consent was taken from parents and students. They were also given the right to withdraw from the study at any point. Participants completed the motivational questionnaire in 7th grade. The questionnaire was given by trained research assistants during normal lesson time. Participants had only one teacher during 7th grade and one teacher during 8th grade. The mathematics teaching was not unusual compared to other school.
• Results

  There was no significant correlation between theory of intelligence (fixed and growth mindset) and other motivational scores and maths test scores when measured at the start of 7th grade. When participants were tested they became a significant predictor of math achievement. Those participants who help the belief that they had the ability to change their intelligence showed greater improvement on the maths test than those who thought their IQ was fixed at birth.
• Materials:

  -      Scores on standardised mathematics achievement test which was taken in 6th grade – these were used as a baseline to compare later scores on maths tests.

  -      Standardised mathematics test to measure achievement in the autumn and spring terms of both 7th and 8th grades.
• A motivational questionnaire which was scored on a 6-point Likert scale
• Theory of intelligence: “you have certain amount of intelligence and you really can’t do much to change it”
• Learning goals: “an important reason why I do my school work is because I like to learn new things”
• Effort beliefs: “the harder you work at something, the better you will be at it”

  Helpless responses to failure: participants were given a scenario and asked to report what they thought they would think and do in that situation.