Hi guys, a little bit of a different blog post today.
Last night I volunteered at the Night of the Open Door at ASU, which is this massive community outreach event. Think of it like a temporary science center across the entire ASU campus. I was helping outside of Goldwater Center for Science and Engineering. The main focus of this building is environmental science. More specifically, grad students are trying to find ways to integrate engineering with natural environments.
One of their current research projects is trying to find ways to prevent liquefaction on beaches. In lay mans terms this just means keeping houses from sinking during an earthquake. Normally, before we build on the sand we drop massive weights on the beach to compact the sand together. Unfortunately, we can't do this where there are already buildings.
So what ASU students are trying to do is find ways to make the sand under already existing houses sturdier. They did this by using already existing enzymes and microorganisms that are in the sand to create sandstone.
Normally, for this process to occur naturally, it will take hundreds of thousands of years, but with the enzymes, it will only take 1 - 2 days and by only using the microorganisms it will take 7 - 21 days.
Students haven't been able to test this under actual buildings yet because the costs are simply too high, but they are working on ways to optimize it so that they can treat massive areas for a low price!
Sunday, February 26, 2017
Saturday, February 25, 2017
Writing Begins
As week three comes to a close, I've started to write my research paper. I'm anticipating that this will take me up to four weeks to complete. So far I've written my section on the definitions I use in my paper and the socioeconomic affects of a growth mindset and grit in minority and poorer populations.
The next big section that I will be focusing on is the curriculum, in this section I plan to talk about the gender differences with grit and growth mindsets, creating a classroom culture, lesson plans, and how we should change the way we praise our students.
Sorry for the short blog post this week, I don't want to give too much away!
The next big section that I will be focusing on is the curriculum, in this section I plan to talk about the gender differences with grit and growth mindsets, creating a classroom culture, lesson plans, and how we should change the way we praise our students.
Sorry for the short blog post this week, I don't want to give too much away!
Sunday, February 19, 2017
A Crucial Balance: Performance and Learning
Before I start this blog post, I want to give a few definitions of terms that I will be using throughout.
1. Performance goals - This means that when a child is completing a task, they are solely concerned about looking smart to others.
2. Learning goals - When a child is completing a task, they are concerned with mastering the material.
3. Helpless response - This is when a child encounters failure they believe that the situation is out of their control and nothing can be done.
4. Mastery-Oriented Mindset - This is similar to a learning goal, the child, instead of focusing on performance, the child is focusing on learning and mastering the material.
In one of Dweck's experiments, she wanted to compare performance goals to learning goals. In the study, she randomly assigned students either a learning goal or a performance goal. She told the children in the performance goal group that they would be evaluated on their performance on the task. The children in the learning goal group were told that this exercise would allow them to learn some valuable things. For both groups, the problems were exactly the same, however, the results were radically different.
As the problems got difficult, children in the performance goal group began to show a helpless response. However, in the learning goal group, when faced with difficulty, instead of giving up these students stayed positive and focused on the task.
This simple experiment shows the power of goals in a classroom. If we focus on learning, students are more likely to stay positive in the face of failure. However, if we focus on performance, students will become more frustrated if they encounter difficulty.
Unfortunately, these two goals are often in conflict with each other. In the classroom, there needs to be some sort of evaluation method. Students have to be held accountable for their education through tests and quizzes. The question them becomes how can we find a balance between these two goals?
It turns out that we can still have performance goals in the classroom if we encourage a mastery-oriented mindset. In an experiment done on junior high students, Dweck and her colleagues gave students booklets that taught them how to solve new kinds of problems. On the back of each booklet, there was a short test to determine mastery of the material, a performance goal.
In the beginning of the study, they assessed which students had learning and performance goals. I'm guessing you already know the results. They found that students who had learning goals scored significantly higher on the test, showed about 50% more work than the students who had performance goals, and, according to their work, students with learning goals applied more of what they learned from the packet directly to the problems.
These concepts hopefully will allow me to work around the biggest problem in my research, time restrictions. By finding ways to create an environment where these responses are encouraged, we can help students become gritty and persevere in the face of failure.
1. Performance goals - This means that when a child is completing a task, they are solely concerned about looking smart to others.
2. Learning goals - When a child is completing a task, they are concerned with mastering the material.
3. Helpless response - This is when a child encounters failure they believe that the situation is out of their control and nothing can be done.
4. Mastery-Oriented Mindset - This is similar to a learning goal, the child, instead of focusing on performance, the child is focusing on learning and mastering the material.
In one of Dweck's experiments, she wanted to compare performance goals to learning goals. In the study, she randomly assigned students either a learning goal or a performance goal. She told the children in the performance goal group that they would be evaluated on their performance on the task. The children in the learning goal group were told that this exercise would allow them to learn some valuable things. For both groups, the problems were exactly the same, however, the results were radically different.
As the problems got difficult, children in the performance goal group began to show a helpless response. However, in the learning goal group, when faced with difficulty, instead of giving up these students stayed positive and focused on the task.
This simple experiment shows the power of goals in a classroom. If we focus on learning, students are more likely to stay positive in the face of failure. However, if we focus on performance, students will become more frustrated if they encounter difficulty.
Unfortunately, these two goals are often in conflict with each other. In the classroom, there needs to be some sort of evaluation method. Students have to be held accountable for their education through tests and quizzes. The question them becomes how can we find a balance between these two goals?
It turns out that we can still have performance goals in the classroom if we encourage a mastery-oriented mindset. In an experiment done on junior high students, Dweck and her colleagues gave students booklets that taught them how to solve new kinds of problems. On the back of each booklet, there was a short test to determine mastery of the material, a performance goal.
In the beginning of the study, they assessed which students had learning and performance goals. I'm guessing you already know the results. They found that students who had learning goals scored significantly higher on the test, showed about 50% more work than the students who had performance goals, and, according to their work, students with learning goals applied more of what they learned from the packet directly to the problems.
These concepts hopefully will allow me to work around the biggest problem in my research, time restrictions. By finding ways to create an environment where these responses are encouraged, we can help students become gritty and persevere in the face of failure.
Thursday, February 16, 2017
A Potential Working Model for the Development of Grit and Growth Mindsets in Classrooms
As week two comes to a close I've gathered up most of the sources I'm going to use for my project, there are a lot of them!
One of the most interesting sources I've come across is a Brainology course created by Carol Dweck. In the article, she asks the question if certain mindsets can be taught to kids. They did this by creating a "growth mindset workshop." In the course, the students completed six computer modules, learned how they could apply these ideas to their school work, and learned about how the brain is similar to a muscle, something that can be improved through hard work.
Here is a link to one of the articles that Dweck had the children read in her course: You Can Grow Your Intelligence New Research Shows the Brain Can Be Developed Like a Muscle
By the end of the study, Dweck and her colleagues noticed that the math grades of the children who took the Brainology course had steadily improved. They compared this to their control group, who had taken eight courses in study skills and saw little to no improvement in their grades. This indicates that they lacked the motivation or mindset to put these skills into practice.
Unfortunately, nothing is perfect. There is conflicting research about whether or not this leads to short term or long term growth. Without follow-ups, the Brainology program made little to no positive effect. However, with follow-ups, this program proved to be an incredibly powerful tool.
This would be one of the main problems I would have to work around in my project. Seeing as it is a short-term research project I will not be able to conduct these follow-up studies months to years later. In order to counteract this, something would have to be done about the classroom environment, that is for the next blog post though!
One of the most interesting sources I've come across is a Brainology course created by Carol Dweck. In the article, she asks the question if certain mindsets can be taught to kids. They did this by creating a "growth mindset workshop." In the course, the students completed six computer modules, learned how they could apply these ideas to their school work, and learned about how the brain is similar to a muscle, something that can be improved through hard work.
Here is a link to one of the articles that Dweck had the children read in her course: You Can Grow Your Intelligence New Research Shows the Brain Can Be Developed Like a Muscle
By the end of the study, Dweck and her colleagues noticed that the math grades of the children who took the Brainology course had steadily improved. They compared this to their control group, who had taken eight courses in study skills and saw little to no improvement in their grades. This indicates that they lacked the motivation or mindset to put these skills into practice.
Unfortunately, nothing is perfect. There is conflicting research about whether or not this leads to short term or long term growth. Without follow-ups, the Brainology program made little to no positive effect. However, with follow-ups, this program proved to be an incredibly powerful tool.
This would be one of the main problems I would have to work around in my project. Seeing as it is a short-term research project I will not be able to conduct these follow-up studies months to years later. In order to counteract this, something would have to be done about the classroom environment, that is for the next blog post though!
Saturday, February 11, 2017
The Importance and Application of Grit in Today's Education System
Hi, my name is Nicolas Gordon and I am a high schooler at BASIS Phoenix.
As a senior, I have the opportunity to do a Senior Project during my third trimester of my senior year. This blog will be me relaying my research and experiences during my project, "The Importance and Application of Grit in Today's Education System."
In my project I want to answer, why are some students not motivated to do well in school even if they are gifted. I have some hunches, at the moment I'm trying to find a link between academic achievement and grit, the research is promising. Additionally, I want to determine how teachers can teach this idea to their students in the classroom.
I'm going to be doing this by using the concept of grit. Angela Duckworth, one of the leading researchers on grit defines it as, "perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Grit entails working strenuously toward challenges, maintaining effort and interest over years despite failure, adversity, and plateaus in progress. The gritty individual approaches achievement as a marathon; his or her advantage is stamina."
There are going to parts of my internship, the first part will be me writing a research paper on the concepts I discussed. Then, I will be going into classrooms to actually test my theories.
For my internship, I will be working at Payne Hall, within the teachers college at ASU with Wendy Barnard and Megan O'Donnel.
Thank you for reading and check back every week for more exciting discoveries!
Thursday, February 9, 2017
Research, Research, and More Research (Feb. 5th - Feb. 10th)
This first week is dedicated to gathering sources and deepening my knowledge of Grit.
So far, I've come across of interesting studies. For example, I recently found a whole plethora or articles and periodicals about how socioeconomic status affects grit and what can be done to combat this.
Apparently, since children in poorer communities are more likely to be prone to increased stress and traumatic experiences, this often decreases their grit. However, in a study, researchers found that using a specific teaching style, known as growth mindset could mitigate this. This idea of teaching with a growth mindset is very interesting and I'm hanging on to it for future research.
The theory argues that there are two different types of mindsets we should be concerned with, static and growth. A static mindset is when someone views that their intelligence is fixed and is reinforced by statements like "You're smart" or "You're dumb." However, a growth mindset focuses on the idea that intelligence is not fixed and can be increased through hard work and trial and error.
This has obvious implications in the classroom. The next question I want to find the answer to is if this mindset is taught early in school (middle school) do kids retain this and does it follow them throughout their lives.
Anyways, I've got a lot more research to sift through to find what I'm looking for, but everything I have so far looks promising.
So far, I've come across of interesting studies. For example, I recently found a whole plethora or articles and periodicals about how socioeconomic status affects grit and what can be done to combat this.
Apparently, since children in poorer communities are more likely to be prone to increased stress and traumatic experiences, this often decreases their grit. However, in a study, researchers found that using a specific teaching style, known as growth mindset could mitigate this. This idea of teaching with a growth mindset is very interesting and I'm hanging on to it for future research.
The theory argues that there are two different types of mindsets we should be concerned with, static and growth. A static mindset is when someone views that their intelligence is fixed and is reinforced by statements like "You're smart" or "You're dumb." However, a growth mindset focuses on the idea that intelligence is not fixed and can be increased through hard work and trial and error.
This has obvious implications in the classroom. The next question I want to find the answer to is if this mindset is taught early in school (middle school) do kids retain this and does it follow them throughout their lives.
Anyways, I've got a lot more research to sift through to find what I'm looking for, but everything I have so far looks promising.
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