"Doing" mindsets in the classroom: A coding scheme for teacher and student mindset-related verbalizations

Area of Science:

• Educational Psychology
• Classroom Interaction Dynamics
• STEM Education

Background:

• Student mindsets (growth vs. fixed ability) significantly impact academic achievement, enjoyment, and resilience.
• Existing research predominantly uses variable-oriented approaches, leaving a gap in understanding teacher-student mindset co-regulation.
• There's a need for person-oriented research examining how mindsets are enacted in real-time classroom interactions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and validate the Student-TEAcherMindset (STEAM) coding scheme.
• To enable the analysis of moment-to-moment dynamics of mindset-related verbalizations between teachers and students.
• To provide a practical tool for studying mindset expression in STEM learning environments.

Main Methods:

• Development of the STEAM coding scheme for analyzing verbalizations.
• Demonstration of the coding system's utility through content and ecological validity.
• Assessment of inter-rater reliability for the coding scheme.
• Application of the scheme in a case study using time-series data from STEM lessons.

Main Results:

• The STEAM coding scheme effectively captures the dynamics of mindset-related verbalizations.
• Content and ecological validity, along with inter-rater reliability, were established for the coding system.
• Time-series data analysis revealed moment-to-moment interactions between teacher and student mindsets.

Conclusions:

• The STEAM coding scheme offers a practical tool for teachers and researchers.
• It facilitates the analysis of how individual mindset-related language fluctuates within classroom interactions.
• This research provides new insights into the co-regulation of mindsets in STEM education.