Dweck’s Theory of Motivation
Dweck’s Theory of Motivation Geoff Petty
Carol Dweck is Professor of Psychology at Columbia University. She is a leader in the field of student motivation and her research is widely recognised. Over many decades she has developed a highly influential theory of student motivation building on the work of others notably on ‘attribution theory’ – what we attribute for our failures and successes.
She divides students into two types, based on the student’s own theory about their own ability.
Fixed IQ theorists: These students believe that their ability is fixed, probably at birth, and there is very little if anything they can do to improve it. They believe ability comes from talent rather than from the slow development of skills through learning. “Its all in the genes”. Either you can do it with little effort, or you will never be able to do it, so you might as well give up in the face of difficulty. E.g. “ I can’t do maths”
Untapped Potential theorists: These students believe that ability and success are due to learning, and learning requires time and effort. In the case of difficulty one must try harder, try another approach, or seek help etc.
About 15% of students are in the middle, the rest are equally divided between the two theories. Surprisingly there is no correlation between success at school and the theory the student holds. Differences in performance only show when the student is challenged or is facing difficulty, for example when a student moves from school to college. Then research has shown that the ‘Untapped Potential Theorists’ do very much better, as one might expect.
It is possible to move students from the Fixed IQ theory to the Untapped Potential theory. However, the research which shows that this can be done, is not at all detailed about how exactly! It’s a matter of persuasion of course. Any ideas? Are you prepared to join the team working on this? If so please contact Geoff Petty room 142.
Carol Dweck is Professor of Psychology at Columbia University. She is a leader in the field of student motivation and her research is widely recognised. Over many decades she has developed a highly influential theory of student motivation building on the work of others notably on ‘attribution theory’ – what we attribute for our failures and successes.
She divides students into two types, based on the student’s own theory about their own ability.
Fixed IQ theorists: These students believe that their ability is fixed, probably at birth, and there is very little if anything they can do to improve it. They believe ability comes from talent rather than from the slow development of skills through learning. “Its all in the genes”. Either you can do it with little effort, or you will never be able to do it, so you might as well give up in the face of difficulty. E.g. “ I can’t do maths”
Untapped Potential theorists: These students believe that ability and success are due to learning, and learning requires time and effort. In the case of difficulty one must try harder, try another approach, or seek help etc.
About 15% of students are in the middle, the rest are equally divided between the two theories. Surprisingly there is no correlation between success at school and the theory the student holds. Differences in performance only show when the student is challenged or is facing difficulty, for example when a student moves from school to college. Then research has shown that the ‘Untapped Potential Theorists’ do very much better, as one might expect.
It is possible to move students from the Fixed IQ theory to the Untapped Potential theory. However, the research which shows that this can be done, is not at all detailed about how exactly! It’s a matter of persuasion of course. Any ideas? Are you prepared to join the team working on this? If so please contact Geoff Petty room 142.