Field experiment: strategic mindset intervention benefits academically prepared students' strategy use but not lower-performing students¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · causal r2 · q3
Currency · newest study 2025 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? In a field RCT with 1070 secondary students, the intervention did not increase strategy use overall (p = 0.429), but a significant Condition × Prior Performance interaction (b = 0.19, p = 0.011) showed benefits only for students 1 SD above prior mean. → Chen 2025 q3 i? The main effect of condition on reported use of effective learning strategies was not significant after controlling for prior year academic performance. → Chen 2025 (2)

Evidence¶

Chen 2025¶

Chen, P., Teo, Q.K., Foo, D.X.Y., Jiang, Y., Sun, L., Ong, X.L., Neo, D., Pereira, D.J.H., Tan, B., Chua, K.Q., Gan, J.X.F. & Ong, D.C. (2025). A strategic mindset predicts and promotes effective learning and academic performance. npj Science of Learning, 10:74. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-025-00367-6

q3 · i? · causal · r2

Randomized controlled field experiment with 1070 Secondary 2–4 students across 6 Singapore schools, using mixed-effects models controlling for a significant baseline imbalance in prior year performance. Figure 3 illustrates that "the intervention significantly benefitted students who performed at +1 SD above the mean" but not at or below the mean.

"The intervention significantly benefitted students who performed at +1 SD above the mean on prior year performance, but the difference was not statistically significant for those who scored at the mean or at−1 SD below the mean on prior performance."

Chen 2025 (2)¶

Chen, P., Teo, Q.K., Foo, D.X.Y., Jiang, Y., Sun, L., Ong, X.L., Neo, D., Pereira, D.J.H., Tan, B., Chua, K.Q., Gan, J.X.F. & Ong, D.C. (2025). A strategic mindset predicts and promotes effective learning and academic performance. npj Science of Learning, 10:74. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-025-00367-6

q3 · i? · causal · r2

Same field experiment: the main effect of condition on LASSI-reported strategy use was not significant after covariating prior year's academic performance due to imbalanced randomization (intervention group had lower baseline). "p = 0.429"; equivalence was not tested.

"Contrary to ourfirst hypothesis, we did notfind an effect of condition on students’reported use of effective learningstrategies, controlling for prior year’s academic performance, p = 0.429."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

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• Growth-mindset interventions have weak average effects on achievement, including a negligible GPA gain (d = 0.11) for lower-achieving US ninth-graders in one preregistered national trial — related
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