Item-level analyses supported this finding: most items correlated weakly or not at all with mindset, and correlated significantly more strongly with need for cognition and learning goal orientation. Overall scores on the Mindset Assessment Profile correlated significantly more strongly with need for cognition than with mindset. The Mindset Assessment Profile also lacked convergent and discriminant validity. 63) and significantly lower than the reliability of the Implicit Theories of Intelligence Questionnaire (α =.
The reliability of the Mindset Assessment Profile was questionable (α =. We assessed the reliability, construct validity, and factor structure of the Mindset Assessment Profile in a sample of 992 undergraduates. Despite its widespread use, the questionnaire appears to assess an individual’s need for cognition and goal orientation more than mindset. That feedback helps them understand how they can improve.The Mindset Assessment Profile is a popular questionnaire purportedly designed to measure mindset-an individual’s belief in whether intelligence is malleable or stable. They thought it might be the best of both worlds to get both, but they found that the very best thing you can do for students is ditch the grade and give them diagnostic feedback. It turned out that once you give a grade, the student just looks at that. They said, “Why don't we give them both?” So they gave grades, grades and feedback and just feedback, and they found that, again, it was the students who only got feedback who outperformed the others, and those who got grades and feedback did the same as those who just got grades. And what they found was the students who had no grades, but they got diagnostic feedback did significantly better in the future. He gave students grades, and in the other condition, he gave students diagnostic feedback. So a really interesting experimental study was conducted by Butler, and he compared three conditions-well, first of all, he compared just two conditions. It's constantly knocking their self esteem. That information for students, particularly for those who are getting Ds and are underperforming is really damaging for them. Most students in math classrooms really get nothing from an assessment result other than a rank or an evaluative statement about where they are compared to others, like a grade, such as B or D. So it's really about communicating three things: where students are, where they need to be, and a way to close the gap between the two. So assessment for learning is for helping students know where they are and also how they can be successful. Sometimes I go to students in math classes, and I say, “Tell me what you're working on,” and they'll say, “Oh, Chapter 3,” and I'll say, “Oh, what are you working on exactly.” They'll say, “I'm sorry, Question 4,” and they really can't tell me more than that. That may sound obvious, but I found that students in math classrooms rarely know where they are in their learning power, either what they're learning beyond the chapter title.
Professor Jo Boaler, Mathematics Education Expert, Stanford University: So assessment for learning is based on the principle that students have a full and clear sense of where they're going and of what they have to do to be successful. Let's hear more about the impact of assessments for learning from Jo Boaler: These types of assessments, called assessments for learning or formative assessments, help students develop a growth mindset by focusing them on their learning and understanding instead of just the final grade.įeedback for students is descriptive and emphasizes their strengths, identifies challenges, and points to next steps. However, assessments are critical during learning, to shed lights on students' learning progress, what they have learned and what they haven't learned yet. In many classrooms, student take a test at the end of the unit to see if they've learned the material or not, which can lead students to focus on their performance. The feedback we give students through assessments influences their mindsets.