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This full research paper reports findings from a multitiered intervention focused on developing growth mindset among talented, low-income undergraduate students attending a College of Computing in the northeastern United States. Rooted in theories of intelligence, a growth mindset views intelligence and skills as being developed through persistent practice and learning from mistakes, while a fixed mindset sees skills as set at birth, never evolving, with mistakes becoming insurmountable barriers to success. The program in this study was designed to develop a community of learners with a shared framework for responding to academic challenges, to combat imposter syndrome, and to support persistence in their major and enter the workforce. During their first two years as college students, three undergraduate cohorts (totaling 32 participants) experienced four semesters of growth-mindset faculty mentoring concurrent with a community-building, growth mindset-focused seminar, and in their first year experienced two growth-mindset infused introductory programming courses. To address the research question, “How do talented, financially disadvantaged computing students understand growth and fixed mindsets?”, we report on qualitative data collected each semester, for each cohort. Focus group transcripts and individual written responses were thematically analyzed, drawing from a priori frameworks (social constructivism and self-efficacy in the context of mindset theory) and emergent codes to develop categories. Discussion is presented using frames of self-determination theory and positioning theory. We discuss the impact of these findings on students, implications for growth mindset interventions and provide guidance for using educational and developmental theories in the context of studies of growth mindset.
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Understanding the Nature and Evolution of Sustainability Mindset in First-Year Engineering Students
This article reviews the notion of a Sustainability Mindset in comparison to sustainability competencies in the context of a study of a first year cohort of students beginning a minor in Sustainability Engineering at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez. A framework of Knowledge (K), Skills (S), Attitudes (A), Behaviors (B), and Attitudes (A) is adopted to capture the students' developing mindsets broadly the context of Sustainability. A detailed open-form survey was administered after the first semester and was completed by 9/11 participants. Results show mature growth in the domain of sustainability (e.g., broad knowledge of the concept of sustainability to encompass the three 'pillars' of environmental, equity, and economic factors, and deep knowledge regarding ideas such as circular economy and earth systems cycles). Further growth is also demonstrated in academic and personal development (e.g., improved study skills, time management, and research skills). Future work will endeavor to continue observing the evolution of the mindset at the KSBA level and at finer levels of detail.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2150461
- PAR ID:
- 10519358
- Publisher / Repository:
- ASEE Conferences
- Date Published:
- Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
- Sustainability, mindset, competency, curriculum, first-year
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Location:
- Portland, OR
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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