Brief online interventions that instill a “growth mindset” and a sense of purpose can improve learning, especially for struggling students.
These interventions could potentially reach vast numbers of students at low cost.
“Two interventions, each lasting about 45 minutes and delivered online, raised achievement in a large and diverse group of underperforming students over an academic semester,” writes Gregory Walton, an assistant professor of psychology at Stanford University, along with his colleagues.
More than a million high school students drop out every year, unprepared for either college or the workforce, according to the article in the journal of Psychological Science. Often the cause is underperformance.
In the United States, a debate exists over how to raise student achievement, especially among those who struggle in the classroom. Attempts at educational reforms such as teacher training, school restructuring, and curricular changes have yielded mixed success and high costs, according to the study.
Now, the researchers say that it may be possible, through brief, online interventions, to improve not only the academic achievement of vast numbers of students but their future lives as well—at extremely affordable costs. The key is the mindset of the students.
‘Growth Mindset’
In their study, the researchers explored the impact of two types of online interventions on 1,594 students in 13 high schools.
One intervention involved the development of a “growth mindset” and the other a “sense of purpose.”
Students with a growth mindset believe that intelligence can be developed, as opposed to those with a “fixed” mindset who believe that people are born with a certain amount of intelligence, the researchers say.
