Broaden Participation in the Geosciences: Change Mindsets and Close the Achievement Gap Saundra Yancy McGuire, Ph.D. Retired Asst. Vice Chancellor & Professor of Chemistry Director Emerita, Center for Academic Success Louisiana State University

SAGE 2YC: Faculty as Change Agents Aims to build a national network of self-sustaining local communities of geoscience faculty and administrators in two-year colleges who use evidence-based strategies to improve all students' academic success, broaden participation, and facilitate professional pathways into geoscience.

Email from Joshua in Spring 2011 “…Personally, I am not so good at chemistry and unfortunately, at this point my grade for that class is reflecting exactly that. I am emailing you inquiring about a possibility of you tutoring me. I can even pay you for tutoring. I need any and all help I can get at this point. I apologize for the inconvenience. ” April 6, 2011 “I made a 68, 50, 50, 87, 87, and a 97 on my final. I ended up earning a 90 in the course, but I started with a 60. I think what I did different was make sidenotes in each chapter and as I progressed onto the next chapter I was able to refer to these notes. I would say that in chemistry everything builds from the previous topic” May 13, 2011 Semester GPA: 3.8

Cutting Edge Metacognition Workshop We Can Help Students Develop the Right Mindset Cutting Edge Metacognition Workshop 11/19/2018 Shenk, David, 2010. The Genius in All of Us: Why Everything You've Been Told About Genetics, Talent, and IQ Is Wrong. New York: Doubleday Dweck, Carol, 2006. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. New York: Random House Publishing

Mindset* is Important! Fixed Intelligence Mindset Intelligence is static You have a certain amount of it Growth Intelligence Mindset Intelligence can be developed You can grow it with actions Dweck, Carol (2006) Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. New York: Random House Publishing

Neuroplasticity* The brain can reorganize itself, growing new neural pathways Individuals can raise their IQ, improve their memory, and sharpen intelligence New brain cells are generated by the process of neurogenesis *term coined by Polish Neuroscientist Jerzy Konorski in 1948

Responses to Many Situations are Based on Mindset Fixed Intelligence Mindset Response Growth Intelligence Mindset Response Challenges Avoid Embrace Obstacles Give up easily Persist Tasks requiring effort Fruitless to Try Path to mastery Criticism Ignore it Learn from it Success of Others Threatening Inspirational

Reflection Questions Which Mindset About Intelligence Do You Think Most Students Have? Why Do You Think They Have This Mindset?

Which Mindset About Student Intelligence Do You Think Most Faculty Have? Why Do You Think They Have This Mindset?

Which Mindset About Student Intelligence Do You Think Most STEM Faculty Have? http://will-harper.com/growth-part-i-mindset/ Why Do You Think They Have This Mindset?

A Fixed Mindset Leads to Learned Helplessness* Based on prior experience, the feeling that no amount of effort will bring success Destroys motivation to attempt a task  *Martin Seligman and Steven F. Maier

Solving Anagrams http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTqBP-x3yR0

Remediation of Learned Helplessness Requires That We: Understand the causes Help students understand the distorted beliefs and misperceptions that are causing their current deficits Provide students the tools to change their behavior and refute their distorted beliefs

The Cure for Learned Helplessness Understanding your “explanatory style” To what do you attribute failure or success? Changing the negative, self-destructive things you say to yourself when you fail (e.g. I don’t understand this and I never will!) Making the new statements a permanent part of your explanatory style (e.g. I don’t understand this yet) Recognizing that perception of ability has the most influence on the amount of effort you will expend on a task! Change your mindset from fixed to growth

Four Strategies for Changing Student Mindset Show students a miracle portfolio - a collection of “before” and “after” scores showing dramatic, rapid improvement, either your students’ scores or those of someone else. (E.g. Joshua who wanted chem tutoring) 2. Ask students to describe an area in which they were once terrible but learned to excel.

3. Discuss with students the biological evidence 3. Discuss with students the biological evidence for the growth mindset—namely, brain plasticity. 4. Do not give assignments designed to weed out weak students. Instead, begin with assignments that challenge students appropriately and then gradually ramp up the difficulty.

The Impact of Changing Mindsets: Mr. Foster’s Miracle Class

Lorenzo Foster’s Physics I AP Class Test Scores Mr. Lorenzo Foster’s Physics I AP Class Test Scores Changing Mindsets, Strategies, and Effort PAID OFF! Lorenzo Foster’s Physics I AP Class Test Scores

After Learning Their Test 2 Scores Physics I AP Students After Learning Their Test 2 Scores

After Learning Their Test 3 Scores Physics I AP Students After Learning Their Test 3 Scores

Changing Mindset Can Change Performance at Any Time Date of Final Exam: December 14, 2005 Meeting with Student No. 1: December 12, 2005 Meeting with Student Nos. 2 & 4: December 2, 2005 Meeting with Student No. 3: December 8, 2005 The final was worth 100 points with a 10 bonus question.

Faculty CAN Change Student Mindsets and Close the Achievement Gap If and only if we change our mindsets about student intelligence and ability, and teach students specific learning strategies