I want to make sure that you know about some important research that came out this year. Canning and colleagues studied the beliefs that university faculty in STEM fields hold of their students' abilities. Embedded in Dweck's research on "fixed mindset," that is, that intellectual ability is fixed, innate and does not change much, compared with "growth mindset," that is, ability is developed through persistence, effective strategies, and mentoring. Canning's study looked at how these faculty beliefs related to students' academic performance and their motivation to do well in class. These beliefs actually explained achievement gaps between underrepresented minorities – Black, Latino, and Native American students – and White and Asian students. Check out the article. You won't want to miss it.
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