Developing a Growth Mindset for Math Supporting Productive Failure David Dockterman, Ed.D. Harvard Graduation School of Education Scholastic Education 1
Make it relevant Make it fun Historical tendency: You know how kids love... video games computers television radio movies magic lanterns 2
What motivates humans, including students? Center on Education Policy 1. Competence (progress) 2. Control/Autonomy (agency) 3. Interest/Value (purpose) 4. Relatedness (community/ status) http://www.cep-dc.org 3
1. Competence AND Confidence Perceived ability matters more than actual ability Girls often do better in math/science than boys but feel less capable Fixed vs Growth Mindset 4
Carol Dweck, Ph. D. Author of MindSet 5
Math Grades 78 77 76 75 74 73 72 71 70 69 68 Incremental Entity Fall 7th Grade Spring 7th Grade Fall 8th Grade Spring 8th Grade Growth Mindset Results Blackwell, L. S., Trzesniewski, K. H., & Dweck, C. S. (2007). Implicit Theories of Intelligence Predict Achievement Across an Adolescent Transition : A Longitudinal Study and an Intervention. Child Development, 78(1), 246 263. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j. 1467-8624.2007.00995.x/full 6
What s Your Fixed Mindset? Are you a video game player? 7
Fixed vs Growth Mindset Fixed Mindset Growth Mindset I m not... I can if... avoid failure look for challenges mistake = can t do (I m not) mistake = learning opportunity 8
Shift relationship with failure struggle and mistakes are not typically rewarded in school In games, failure is the norm. Success is the exception. In school, for struggling students, mistakes = I m stupid. In good games, mistakes = I need to try again. What can I do differently? 9
Give Students a Running Start we persevere when we believe we can succeed but we need evidence shaky confidence + early failure = total shutdown games provide a gradual slope Slice It! -- com2us.com 10
But move quickly to the edge I m bored I m good! I can t Know & Do edge of competence Zone of Proximal Development The Math Curriculum Just the Right Frustration Can be Very Satisfying 11
Shift the Reference Point Set the expectation for struggle When low SES or minority students struggle at college... don t belong, drop out but if expect to struggle, then more likely to stay and graduate 12
Words, Models, & Knowledge Let s start with an easy one. vs This might take a few tries. with words by modeling with your own mistakes using examples Wow, that problem didn t turn out the way I wanted. Let me see if I can figure out what I did wrong...ah, maybe that s it. Good. I learned something new. That was a good by teaching about growth mindset 13
What s Your Mindset? http://www.mindsetworks.com FIRST TWO WEEKS DAY 1 Mindset Scan Week 1 Some people believe that you are born with or without certain skills. Others believe that you can become better at anything through hard work and effort. Let's find out what you think. THIS IS NOT A TEST! It is an opinion survey about your beliefs,goals, and thoughts on intelligence. Agree a lot Agree RANKING GUIDE Agree a little Disagree a little Disagree Disagree a lot 6 5 4 3 2 1 Decide how much you agree or disagree with each statement. Circle and write your answer. Agree Disagree PROFILE NUMBER A No matter how much intelligence you have, you can always change it a good deal. 6 5 4 3 2 1 B I like my work best when it makes me think hard. 6 5 4 3 2 1 C I like work that I'll learn from even if I make a lot of mistakes. 6 5 4 3 2 1 D When something is hard, it just makes me want to work more on it, not less. 6 5 4 3 2 1 E You can learn new things, but you cannot really change your basic level of intelligence. 1 2 3 4 5 6 F I like my work best when I can do it really well without too much trouble. 1 2 3 4 5 6 G I like my work best when I can do it perfectly without any mistakes. 1 2 3 4 5 6 H To tell the truth, when I work hard, it makes me feel as though I'm not very smart. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Add up all the profile numbers and write the total. TOTAL 5A MATH 180 14
Use Appropriate Feedback Can t learn from failure without feedback Reinforce the right Correct the wrong Imagine practicing putting without seeing if the ball goes in the hole 15
Corrective Feedback or practicing free throws without seeing if the ball goes in the basket 16
Corrective Feedback or practicing math procedures without knowing if the answers are correct digital games provide immediate feedback and can be incredibly failure tolerant so do simulations and visual models try...see results...revise...repeat provides a sense of control 17
Show Progress Progress -- Harvard Business Review #1 big idea for 2010 Marketers motivating us Motivating ourselves Making long waits a little more tolerable 18
Angry Birds -- rovio.com Progress through Levels How far to go 19
FASTT Math -- scholastic.com/fasttmath Progress through Skills FASTT Math Next Generation 20
Student Dashboards MATH 180 21
2. Control/Autonomy Our brains may not be rational, but they do rationalize If you make me do it, I must not want to do it Intrinsic motivation fueled by choice, undermined by outside control But we don t want to give the choice not to participate 22
Choices Personalized space How to get there Strategies Choice Architecture 23
Manage the Stakes frontier learning routine performance failure tolerant goal of error-free low stakes high stakes 24
Learning Instruction frontier learning routine performance failure tolerant goal of error-free low stakes high stakes 25
Practicing Practice frontier learning routine performance formative assessment failure tolerant goal of error-free learning tasks low stakes high stakes 26
Performing Performance Assessment frontier learning routine performance failure tolerant goal of error-free low stakes high stakes 27
Give students some control over readiness... Practice frontier learning routine performance lots of replay failure tolerant improve speed & accuracy goal of error-free low stakes high stakes 28
3. Interest/Value (Purpose) When will I ever use this? Short-term value: Is this relevant? OR Is it just interesting? Long-term value: I need this for college. I need this for... It doesn t work to TELL students that it s important for them. 29
Which Number Doesn t Belong? 9 16 25 43 30
Start with Application http://www.scholastic/math180 Purpose Situating math in real stories 31
4. Relatedness/Community The quest for status may be our most basic evolutionary drive. Risky fish get the girls. Humans crave social acceptance, and self-efficacy (and grades) are related to peer group support. Build a growth mindset classroom culture 32
Mastery vs Performance Mastery Performance Personal progress -- where am I vs where I was before Competitive -- where am I compared to others all about getting better all about winning best for struggling students who have a history of failure choose when and with whom to share growth good for high performers who think they have a chance of winning performance always on display 33
Who Cares? Teacher - Student Parent - Student Student - Student 34
The power of YET (Carol Dweck) You haven t mastered those skills...yet. You re not explaining the connection between the graph and the equation clearly...yet. We haven t reached all the students...yet 35
If you think you can catch the bus, you will run for it. - Lee Peng Yee 36
Questions or Comments? david_dockterman@gse.harvard.edu 37