Use active comparison conditions with parallel application prompts when evaluating growth mindset interventions¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

Across the six studies meeting WWC standards, comparison groups were not passive: "students in the comparison group were typically exposed to alternative, non-growth-mindset information and then asked to describe, in their own words, how they would apply this information to their own learning or use it to advise another student." Alternatives included multiple-intelligence messages, campus-adjustment stories, study tips such as sleep and stress reduction, and laughter/stress content, isolating the mindset message while holding structure constant.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• A parallel application task matched in format and timing to the intervention group's task

Constraints¶

• The report describes this as typical of the six reviewed studies, not a validated design requirement

Target Learners¶

• Postsecondary students in comparison conditions of intervention studies

Target Learning Goals¶

• Isolating the effect of the growth mindset message on achievement and persistence outcomes

Related Strategies¶

• Deliver growth mindset messages once, near the start of college or around first exams, in roughly 30-minute sessions

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Growth Mindset Interventions. (2022). What Works Clearinghouse Intervention Report, NCEE 2022-006. https://whatworks.ed.gov