The Growth-Mindset Classroom: Considering the Process as the Product
Imagine two students in your crowded lecture hall. One views a difficult problem as a signal that they lack the talent to succeed, quickly turning to external shortcuts to find the answer. The second student sees that same struggle as fuel for their brain, understanding that mental effort is the physical process of building new neural pathways.
As educators, we are the soil for these seeds. Neuroscience shows that a student’s growth mindset, the belief that intellectual abilities can be developed, only flourishes when the classroom context supports it.
For years, we have relied on high-stakes, outcome-focused assessments. However, we are currently facing a vastly different technological landscape from a few short years ago where the use of AI to complete assignments is virtually untraceable and can now ace most traditional tests and writing assignments. This technological shift is not the cause of cheating, but it has exposed a long-standing issue: students often prioritize the transaction of a grade over the transformation of learning.
The question becomes: How can we foster true motivation and a growth mindset in our students while moving our focus away from the final output and toward the learning process itself?
Practical Strategies for Large-Enrollment Success
Implementing deep, process-focused learning with large class sizes may seem daunting, but these evidence-based strategies address specific instructional gaps while keeping your grading workload manageable. Here is a list of barriers to success with optional instructional strategies for improving student outcomes.
The Grading Barrier
In massive classes, manual grading of complex problems is impossible. By designing auto-graded multiple-choice questions that require students to apply concepts to a realistic professional scenario, you can test critical thinking and decision-making rather than simple memorization. Using available tools, such as Peerceptiv, can increase peer engagement while protecting faculty efficiency.
The Motivation Barrier
Adult learners are driven by relevancy. Surveying students at the start of the semester and asking them to create personal goals that align to course objectives helps them answer their own “why”, which is the primary driver of motivation in adult students.
The Engagement Barrier
Regular, low-stakes retrieval exercises force the brain to actively process information, which strengthens neural connections far more than passive listening. Adding knowledge checks within the content with immediate feedback included, adding gamification strategies, short quizzes, self-evalutative survey questions, and think-pair-share activities within the course activate engagement in students and increase accountability. Requiring short reflections on their strengths, and areas for improvement not only increases engagement but creates self-awareness.
The Fixed-Mindset Barrier
Students with a fixed mindset often avoid challenges to prevent failure. Providing autonomy by allowing students to choose their project topics or submission formats increases their willingness to see a difficult project through to the end. Follow Universal Design for Learning Principles to increase inclusivity for students that may lack confidence.
The AI Barrier
Consider reframing assignments that focus on a correct final product by focusing on the process instead. Include process-focused rubric criteria for students’ rationale and decision-making process to ensure that the student is demonstrating critical thinking. If students are using AI for brainstorming or editing, request that they provide AI chat prompts, transcripts or citations.
The Innovation Barrier
VCU strives to foster real-world learning that requires a growth mindset. Creating a classroom culture and curriculum design that rewards the effort and strategy of the learning journey helps students transition from the idea of earning a degree to becoming lifelong learners. Through our own process as educators at VCU, we continue to bring innovative practices to our students through our own process of discovery.
Additional Resources
Bowen, J. A., & Watson, C. E. (2024). Teaching with AI: A practical guide to a new era of human learning. JHU Press.
David, L., Vassena, E., & Bijleveld, E. (2024). The unpleasantness of thinking: A meta-analytic review of the association between mental effort and negative affect. Psychological Bulletin, 150(9), 1070–1093. https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fbul0000443
Global Silicon Valley. (2024, April 16). Co-Intelligence: AI in the classroom with Ethan Mollick | ASU+GSV 2024 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HanKVJH_Bco
Hobson, L. (2023, October 18). EP-86: Andragogy and designing learning experiences [Audio podcast episode]. In Andragogy and Designing Learning Experiences — Dr. Luke Hobson.EP-86: Andragogy and Designing Learning Experiences — Dr. Luke Hobson
Mollick, E. (2024, August 30). Post-apocalyptic education: What comes after the Homework Apocalypse. One Useful Thing. https://www.oneusefulthing.org/p/post-apocalyptic-education
Mollick, L., & Mollick, E. (n.d.). Student exercises. More Useful Things: AI Resources.
Process-focused learning and assessment for AI and learning skills. (n.d.). Teaching with AI Tips. https://learning.northeastern.edu/aitips-process-focused-learning/
Stanford Alumni. (2014, October 9). Developing a growth mindset with Carol Dweck [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiiEeMN7vbQ
Yeager, D. S., Carroll, J. M., Buontempo, J., Cimpian, A., Woody, S., Crosnoe, R., Muller, C., Murray, J., Mhatre, P., Kersting, N., Hulleman, C., Kudym, M., Murphy, M., Duckworth, A. L., Walton, G. M., & Dweck, C. S. (2022). Teacher mindsets help explain where a growth-mindset intervention does and doesn’t work. Psychological Science, 33(1), 18–32. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8985222/