1. Advising for Optimal
Academic Striving:
A Growth Mindset Approach
Steven Estes
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Advising
Amanda Durik
Department of Psychology

2. How can we promote a
mindset that enables:
• Persistence—even when depressed?
• Success across cultures and ability levels?
• Resilient confidence?
• Willingness to benefit from developmental
courses?

3. Opportunities to promote
academic striving:
Appointments
Orientation
UNIV 101
MAP-Works/OSAS
Engaged Learning
ACCESS
& many more!

4. Advising Models & Assumptions
About Motivation
Prescriptive Developmental Intrusive
“limited largely to “…satisfaction in “Motivation is not the
producing high work cause, but the result
grade, gaining credit accomplishment of intrusive
for the course, or stemming from a intervention
obtaining a degree in natural striving activities.”
order to realize a toward self-
certain level of enhancement…”
income…” Crookston
Crookston (1994) Earl (1988)
(1994)

5. Appreciative Advising (Bloom, Hutson, & He 2008):
Motivation is “discovered” through open-ended
questions about their “dream” aspirations.
“Instilling” Motivation* “Eliciting” Motivation*
“You can do it!” Open questions
“I know you have what it takes!” Listen for Desire, Ability, Reason,
Need (DARN) statements
“Keep at it!”
Looking back/forward
Exploring goals/values
Selling on benefits of education
*Examples from Starks (2012)

6. What if a research based
model of motivation could…
• Define effective ways to instill motivation?
• Focus our attempts to elicit motivation?

7. An Overarching Theoretical Model
Dweck (1986, 2006)
Motivation in achievement situations is
guided by how learners/athletes/employees
conceptualize their abilities

8. Mindsets
(Dweck, 1986, 2006)
Fixed Mindset Growth Mindset
intelligence is a fixed trait intelligence is a malleable quality
that can change and grow
Slide adapted from mindsetworks.com

9. What Mindsets Do
Fixed Mindset Students Say Growth Mindset Students Say
Looking Smart is Most Important Learning is Most Important
“The main thing I want when I do “What is really important to me in
my school work is to show how my classes is whether I learn
good I am at it.” something.”
Effort is negative Effort is positive
“To tell the truth, when I work hard “The harder you work at something,
at my school work it makes me feel the better you’ll be at it.”
like I’m not very smart.”
Slide adapted from mindsetworks.com

10. What Mindsets Do
Fixed Mindset Students Say Growth Mindset Students Say
Helpless response to failure Resilient response to failure
“I would spend less time on this “I would work harder in this class
subject from now on.” from now on.”
“I would try not to take this “I would spend more time studying
subject ever again.” for the tests.”
“I would try to cheat on the next
test.”
Slide adapted from mindsetworks.com

11. What Does the Research Say?
Achievement
Correlational Studies:
Univ. of Southern CA students—growth mindset related
to increase in confidence after challenge (Robins & Pals, 2002)
University of Hong Kong students—growth mindset
related to desire to take optional English course (Dweck, 2006)
University students—for growth-minded chemistry
students, more challenge  more interest (Dweck, 2006)
University students—for fixed-minded students, higher
grades early on  more interest (Dweck, 2006)

12. What Does the Research Say?
Emotional Well Being
Correlational Studies:
University students—growth mindset predicted less
depression during the spring semester (Dweck, 2006)
NIU freshman—growth mindset about shyness predicted
reductions in anxiety 7 months later (Valentiner et al., 2011)

13. Experimental Test Of Mindset Effects
(Blackwell et al., 2007)
Randomly assigned 7th grade students to:
1.Growth mindset condition OR
2.Control condition
Measured math grades pre- and post-intervention

14. Experimental Test:
Math Grades in Junior High School
(Blackwell et al., 2007)
Growth mindset
Control

15. Experimental Test Of Praise Effects
(Mueller & Dweck, 1998)
Students take a test and receive randomly assigned
positive feedback:
1.Intelligence praise: “Wow, that’s a really good score.
You must be smart at this” OR
2.Effort praise: “Wow, that’s a really good score. You
must have tried really hard.” OR
3.Control praise: “Wow, that’s a really good score.
Then, all students take a more difficult test

16. Test Of Praise Effects:
After The Difficult Test
(Mueller & Dweck, 1998)
Intelligence Effort
Praise
Lower Higher
confidence confidence
After
Lower Higher
difficult
motivation motivation
test
Lower Higher
Performance Performance
Slide adapted from mindsetworks.com

17. Test Of Praise Effects:
Performance After Negative Feedback
(Mueller & Dweck, 1998)
6.5
6
# of Problems Solved
Effort Praise
5.5 Control Praise
Intelligence Praise
5
4.5
Initial test
Trial 1 Test after negative feedback
Trial 3
Slide adapted from mindsetworks.com

18. Test Of Praise Effects:
Students Who Lied About Low Scores
(Mueller & Dweck, 1998)
0.4
0.3
Proportion of Children
0.2
0.1
0
Intelligence Control Effort
Slide adapted from mindsetworks.com

19. So, how does this apply to advising?

20. Effort is good
Negative performance feedback helps
identify room for improvement
Difficult work leads to learning
Putting it into practice…(role-playing activity)

21. References
Blackwell, L. S., Trzesniewski, K. H., & Dweck, C. S. (2007). Implicit theories of
intelligence predict achievement across an adolescent transition: A longitudinal study and
an intervention. Child Development, 78, 246-263.
Bloom, J.L., Hutson, B.L., & He, Y. (2008). The appreciative advising revolution. Urbana-
Champaign, IL: Stipes.
Crookston, B. B. (1994). A developmental view of academic advising as teaching. NACADA
Journal, 14(2), 5-9.
Dweck, C. (2006-02-28). Mindset: The new psychology of success. Random House, Inc..
Kindle Edition.
Earl, W. R. (1988). Intrusive advising of freshmen in academic difficulty. NACADA Journal,
8 (2), 27-33.
Mueller, C. M., & Dweck, C. (1998). Praise for intelligence can undermine children’s
motivation and performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 33-52.
Robins, R., & Pals, J. (2002). Implicit self-theories in the academic domain: Implications for
goal orientation, attributions, affect, and self-esteem change. Self and Identity, 1, 313–
336.
Starks, S. R. (2012). Enhancing Student Motivation. Retrieved 16 September 2012 from
http://distanceadvising.com/2012/05/enhancing-student-motivation/