Research Article

Towards a Growth Mindset Culture in the Classroom: Implementation of a Lesson-Integrated Mindset Training

Table 2

Growth mindset feedback.

PrincipleExample situation

Everyone can learn physicsThe students were working in pairs on an experiment. The teacher observed that some students did not put much effort into their work. She motivated them by saying that she believed they had the potential to learn and achieve much better.

Mistakes are valuable; questions are really importantThe teacher asked the students to generate hypotheses about why you can hear a bumblebee flying, but not a butterfly. A student presented his logical but false assumption; the different size of the wings might be the reason. Several other students disagreed and claimed that different movements would cause the different sound. The first student was confused and asked for a detailed explanation. Guided by the teacher, the students thus found a conclusive argument for the correct solution. The teacher praised the student for raising the question and his classmates for their good arguments. She emphasized how helpful it was to learn from the mistaken assumption.