Browsing by Subject "growth mindset"
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(2022)The objective of this study The objective of my study was to examine what the experience of math anxiety is to teachers, who teach mathematics despite their anxiety. Based on previous research math anxiety manifests itself as an emotional and physical reaction, that hinders cognitive functions. Teacher's math anxiety can result in for example as teaching on elementary school grade, avoidance of teaching mathematics, spending less time on math instruction and as emotional concequences. However, there are many ways to alleviate math anxiety. Teachers actions may help prevent math anxiety from forming. Internalized growth mindset has also been proven to have an alleviating affect. In my research I will examin how these factors appear in teachers' stories about their own experiences. Methods This study was done with qualitative research methods. The research material consists of answers to a questionnaire and follow-up interviews. The questionnaire material was gathered using a google forms questionnaire,that was shared to teacher groups in facebook, questions of which were formed based on previous research. A follow-up interview was conduted with volunteered participants. 21 teachers answered the questionnaire, of which two were interviewed. The material gathered from the questionnaire and interviews was analyzed using content analysis and a narrative dimensions model. The questionnaire material was examined for signs of growth and fixed mindset. Results and conclusions The participants experiences of living and teaching with math anxiety aligned in part with previous research. However, the anxiety appears in broad and individual ways. The difficulties it produces both in learning and teaching are versatile. Only a couple of participants reported getting help for math anxiety. Expressions of growth mindset appeared mostly on teachers experiencing mediocre math-anxiety. Its' counterpart, fixed mindset, appeared most on those experiencing mild math anxiety. Growth mindset had helped some of the teachers to get over their hardest anxiety, and they saw teaching mathematics as enjoyable and meaningful. It is good that math anxiety is being researched increasingly, because it is a problem that can affect employment and educational level. Many are left alone with their anxiety- In the future attention should be payed to math anxiety of those studying to become teachers, so that the training can help alleviate the anxiety before transitioning to working life.
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(2022)Abstract The theoretical framework for this study comes from Carol Dweck’s (2000, 2006) theory of mindsets. Mindsets impact on core beliefs that individuals hold about the malleability of qualities of the human condition. A person with a growth mindset believes that abilities can be developed. A person a with fixed mindset believes that people have a certain amount of abilities, such as talent and intelligence. Mindsets have an impact on learning results, persistence and goals. Mindset also affects on how person reacts to challenges. Whilst theory of mindsets is internationally known and well researched, there has been less research regarding young children’s mindsets. The aim of this study is to examine what are the school subjects third grade pupils like and which factors influence that. In addition, study aims to examine what factors in learning motivates third grade pupils and how mindsets are presented in pupil’s answers. This study examined third grade students from two primary schools in Helsinki. The data of this study was collected as a part of Kirsi Tirri’s Copernicus research project’s intervention which utilized growth mindset pedagogy. The data of this study was gathered before intervention. The study utilized both qualitative and quantitative methods. The analysis was performed using inductive and deductive content analysis. Statistical methods were used to examine how two factors, gender and school, impact on pupils answers. The results of this study showed that mathematics was clearly the most popular subject, which differs from the previous study. Results suggest that subject-specific motivation was most often affected by a factor inherent in the nature of the subject, such as calculation. Factors behind learning motivation highlighted learning environment, especially it’s social dimensions. Mindsets were one of the factors that affected subject-specific motivation and learning motivation. Most pupils reflected a fixed mindset. Mindsets were presented in many ways. Pupils answers highlighted attitudes towards challenge. The results also implicate that mindset can differ in different subjects.
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(2022)The aim of this study is to examine parents’ learning-related mindsets and parental praise in two different neighbourhoods. The framework for this study comes from Carol Dweck’s (1999, 2006) mindset theory which proposes that people hold different implicit beliefs about the malleability of human attributes, such as intelligence and giftedness. The characteristic of human nature is the capability to change and grow. A person with a growth mindset believes that qualities are malleable and can be developed over time, but having a fixed mindset, core qualities are perceived as built in and fixed by nature. This research context centres around the findings of increased social segregation and differentiation in education across families, and hence concern about educational equality. Mindsets develop in the environment where people grow up, most notably at school and home. Previous research has established that parents’ implicit beliefs about learning play an essential role in child’s development, and parental praise is a significant vehicle to support the implicit beliefs of children and improve learning. The data of this quantitative case study (N = 693) was collected with a questionnaire during the years 2016–2017 as part of a Copernicus research project. K-means clustering was used to form intelligence and giftedness mindset groups and differences between groups were analysed using Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis -tests. Based on exploratory factor analysis, the different ways of parental praise were compared with Mann-Whitney U tests and linear regression analysis was utilized to identify how given feedback is related to parents’ mindsets. Cronbach alpha was used to evaluate the internal reliability of the sums of variables. The results indicated that there were significant differences between the mindsets that caregivers hold and groups of fixed, growth and mixed mindset were found. Intelligence is perceived as a more malleable trait than giftedness among parents. This study also revealed gender and socioeconomic differences in mindsets. Four ways of parental praise were discovered: neutral, process, person and luck praise. The parents were more likely to adopt neutral and process praise, but differences between schools were also found. Parents’ growth mindset indicates at least partially given process praise and luck praise is explained by fixed mindset. Findings suggest that parents might not know how to actualize their growth mindset in process-focused praise.
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(2020)Positive psychology in education is an ideological umbrella term for an educational approach that has an emphasis on the well-being and happiness of the individual. There are many schools that had elements from positive psychology before its creation but the first school to adopt a school wide Positive psychology in education approach in 2007 was Geelong Grammar School in Victoria, Australia. This study is a holistic approach with the attempt to understand how the teachers at Geelong Grammar School look at education and the students from a positive psychology perspective. A qualitative phenomenological hermeneutic research design was applied so that the focus could be put on the ten teachers lived experience in the school environment. Semi-structured interviews were used as a method to gather the needed data, which was thematically analysed. The results demonstrate how the teachers are impacted by the environment; the way in which the teachers deal with and view a very diverse group of students reflect the positive psychological perspectives. The teachers report clear benefits both in their class environment and also offers distinct tools in how they approach the students. Most of the teachers reported an individual benefit from a self-growth perspective. Geelong Grammar school does not demand a certain level of positive psychology, that choice is up to the teachers. This choice is reflected in the research results and shows how it impacts them personally in a positive way, and how they think it impacts the students. The results show both common universal challenges, typical for a school, but there are also challenges unique to the positive psychology environment they live in. This study facilitates the understanding of adopting positive psychology in education seen from the teachers perspective. This study also highlights some of the broader challenges in our culture and life dictated by the consequential demands of economics.
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(2023)The purpose of this thesis was to find out (1) how maker mindset and its components are visible in young children participating in a multidisciplinary technology project in early childhood education, and (2) how the components of maker mindset are connected to each other in the activities of the children participating in the project. The maker mindset has been studied little in the past, and even then only in adults and school-age children, so its manifestation may be different in children of early childhood education age. There is no established classification of the components of maker mindset, so the components of the maker mindset and their indicators were compiled based on selected literature and collected material. The components were classified as: growth mindset and resilience; engagement; sharing and community; play and curiosity; and creativity. The research material was collected as part of the Innoplay research project, which aimed to develop pedagogical methods for craft, technology and environmental education and mathematics (STEAM) teaching through invention, play and expression. The material was collected from the project's cooperative kindergarten in the spring of 2020, when the corona pandemic made everyday life difficult and also affected the collection of research material and the target group. There were a total of seven documented project sessions, and a total of twelve 3–5 year old children participated in the project during the documentation. In the analysis of the data, abductive content analysis was used, which combines a theory- and material-oriented approach, creating new information. The video material was transcribed and the events in the material were classified according to the components of maker mindset visible in them. All components of the maker mindset could be seen in the material, only creativity was clearly less present and it often appeared only after other components. The components of maker mindset were found to overlap and influence each other: one component rarely appeared without the other, and growth mindset and persistence often overlapped with commitment. Based on the analysis of the data, it can be concluded that maker mindset can be observed in children of early childhood education age in similar learning situations.
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