Building Intellectual
Capacity
Phyllis Kirkpatrick and Barbara Taylor
Senior science program coordinators
CAST
November 2008
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Reflection
Why do some students—who seem to have the
skills and ability to perform well—perform poorly in
school?
Why do some students—who do not seem to
have the skills and ability to perform well—
achieve at levels that are much higher than the
achievement levels of their seemingly more
capable counterparts?
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Learning Expectations
Participants will
• Examine how preconceptions about the malleability of
intelligence can affect student achievement.
• Examine a lesson that is designed to encourage
students to make connections between increased effort,
participation in collaborative learning experiences, and
higher achievement.
• Examine how high-yield instructional strategies in
lessons can also increase student achievement.
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Off to the Races, Part 1
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Messages That Motivate: How
Praise Molds Students’ Beliefs,
Motivation, and Performance
(in Surprising Ways)
Dr. Carol S. Dweck
Department of Psychology, Stanford University
This article is Chapter 3 (pages 37–60) in Joshua Aronson (Ed),
Improving Academic Achievement: Impact of Psychological
Factors on Education. NY: Academic Press.
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As you read the article, look for answers to the
following questions.
What is the effect on teaching and learning when students
and/or teachers believe that …
• assumptions about intelligence affect student success?
• there is a distribution of intelligence in the population
ranging from “very smart” to “very dumb”?
• everyone can increase their intelligence with hard work
and effort?
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Research: Implicit Theories of Intelligence
(Dweck, 1999)
Fixed Intelligence: Your intelligence is innate and essentially
unchangeable.
• Trait largely determined by nature
Malleable Intelligence: Your intelligence can be increased
through effort and persistence.
• Quality that can be increased through nurture
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Students who view intelligence
as being a fixed entity tend to
Students who view intelligence as
being malleable tend to
 Believe that they only have a
certain amount of intelligence
and that it cannot be changed.
 Believe that intelligence can be
cultivated through learning.
 Worry about failure and question
their abilities.
 Avoid challenges and seek easy
successes.
 Desire to look smart at all costs.
 Pass up valuable learning
opportunities.
 Pursue and enjoy challenges.
 Care less about “looking smart.”
 Engage in self-monitoring and
self-instruction.
 Focus on learning goals.
 Focus on performance goals.
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“While recognizing that there can be real
differences between individuals in the speed of
their intellectual growth, and without denying that
there may be differences in capacity, we suggest
that a child’s focus on assessing these differences
can have unfortunate consequences for
motivation. In contrast, a focus on the potential of
students to develop their intellectual capacity
provides a host of motivational benefits.”
(Blackwell, Trzesniewski, & Dweck, 2007, p. 260)
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“While recognizing that there can be real differences between individuals in the speed of
their intellectual growth, and without denying that there may be differences in capacity,
we suggest that a child’s focus on assessing these differences can have unfortunate
consequences for motivation. In contrast, a focus on the potential of students to develop
their intellectual capacity provides a host of motivational benefits.”
What factor in the classroom has the greatest
potential for changing a child’s focus while
he/she considers the differences in his/her
apparent intellectual growth or capacity
compared to other students in his/her classes?
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The Effect of Teachers’ Theories of Intelligence
on Pedagogical Practices
(Good, Dweck, & Rattan, 2006)
Teachers oriented toward
an entity theory of math
intelligence endorse
teaching practices that
• Convey a fixed view of
intelligence.
• Reduce opportunities to
work on challenging
problems.
• De-emphasize the role of
effort in outcomes.
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My Expectations…
• Determine the types of experiences that
I make available to my students.
• Determine the types of questions I ask
OR don’t ask.
• Determine how I teach.
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Categories of Instructional Strategies
That Affect Student Achievement









Identifying similarities and differences
Summarizing and notetaking
Reinforcing effort and providing recognition
Homework and practice
Nonlinguistic representations
Cooperative learning
Setting objectives and providing feedback
Generating and testing hypotheses
Questions, cues, and advance organizers
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Instructional Strategies
Expert Groups
Read your assigned chapter individually at your table.
(20 minutes)
Discuss points you highlighted in the materials with the
team at your table round-robin style.
(10 minutes)
Summarize the chapter your table group was assigned
and create a poster that highlights (using bullets) five
main points.
(15 minutes)
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Off to the Races, Part 2
Day II Objective: Today you will begin to design a boat that will move across the
water faster than the boat used in the first test. You will design a boat that can be
constructed from the materials listed below under the heading “Materials for Boat
Construction. You may not use any materials that are not on the list.
Materials Part II:
2 Identical Fans with speed controls
Enough water to fill the rain gutter
Large stable table
2-1.5 meter long Rain Gutters with end caps
2 Stopwatches
Chart paper for intelligence discussion
Permanent Marker
Water resistant paper
Individual Boat Design Blackline Master
Team Boat Design Blackline Master
Materials for Boat Construction
Copier type paper
Post-it notes
10 cm thin metal wire
Transparent Tape
Procedure: Part II
1. Use the information that the class gathered about the boats used in the first test
and the materials list to design a boat that is faster than the fastest boat used in the
first test. You are allowed to design any type of boat that can be built with the
materials on your list. You can include a sail or change the shape of the boat. Use
the page titled “Individual Boat Design” to make a sketch of your new design. Under
your sketch, explain why you believe that your design will be faster than the fastest
boat from the first test.
2. Share your design with your team.
3. As a team, you can only use one design. On the sheet titled “Team Boat Design”,
make a sketch of the boat the team decides will be the one that is entered into the
next test. Everyone must agree on this design and it must include some part of each
person’s individual design. On the lines under the sketch, explain why this design
was the one chosen by the group.
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Correlation to Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills:
(6.6) The student knows that there is a relationship between force and motion. The student is expected to:
(A) identify and describe the changes in position, direction of motion, and speed of an object
when acted upon by force;
(B) demonstrate that changes in motion can be measured and graphically represented; and
(7.6) The student knows that there is a relationship between force and motion. The student is expected to:
(B) demonstrate that an object will remain at rest or move at a constant speed and in a straight
line if it is not being subjected to an unbalanced force; and
(8.7) The student knows that there is a relationship between force and motion. The student is expected to:
(A) demonstrate how unbalanced forces cause changes in the speed or direction of an object's
motion; and
IPC (4) The student knows concepts of force and motion evident in everyday life. The student is expected
to:
(A) calculate speed, momentum, acceleration, work, and power in systems such as in the human
body, moving toys, and machines;
(B) investigate and describe applications of Newton's laws such as in vehicle restraints, sports
activities, geological processes, and satellite orbits;
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National Science
Education Standards
Table 6.2. Physical Science Standards
Levels K–4
Levels 5–8
Properties of objects and materials
Properties and changes of
properties in matter
Position and motion of objects
Motions and Forces
Light, heat, electricity, and
magnetism
Transfer of energy
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Changing Emphasis
The National Science Education Standards envision change throughout the system.
The science content standards encompass the following changes in emphasis:
Less Emphasis On
More Emphasis On
Knowing scientific facts and
information
Understanding scientific concepts and
developing abilities of inquiry
Studying subject matter disciplines
(physical, life, earth sciences) for their
own sake
Learning subject matter disciplines in the
context of inquiry, technology, science in
personal and social perspectives, and
history and nature of science
Separating science knowledge and
science process
Integrating all aspects of science content
Covering many science subjects
Studying a few fundamental science
concepts
Implementing inquiry as a set of
processes
Implementing inquiry as instructional
strategies, abilities, and ideas to be
learned.
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Balanced and Unbalanced Forces
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Designing a Faster Boat:
Points for Discussion
1. What force(s) causes the boat to move?
2. What opposing force(s) causes the boat to resist
moving or to slow down?
3. What are the design features that help the boat
gain maximum benefit from the force(s) that
causes it to move across the water?
4. What are the design features that help the boat
minimize the effect of the opposing force(s)?
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How do lessons like this help students…
• understand that learning something new can feel
uncomfortable in many different ways?
• understand that effort is the key to learning?
• justify their thinking?
• set goals?
• develop self-confidence?
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Reflecting on Teaching
If I agree that through hard work and effort intelligence can
be increased, then…
• What actions can I take to help my students increase
their intelligence?
• What behaviors, mine or my students, prevent these
actions from being successful?
• How can I overcome these challenges?
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• Why do some students—who seem to
have the skills and ability to perform
well—perform poorly in school?
• Why do some students—who do not
seem to have the skills and ability to
perform well—achieve at levels that are
much higher than the achievement
levels of their seemingly more capable
counterparts?
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“… a focus on the potential
of students to develop their
intellectual capacity provides
a host of motivational benefits.”
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Contact Information
barbara_taylor@mail.utexas.edu
pkirkpat@mail.utexas.edu
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Resources
•
Blackwell, L. S., Trzesniewski, K. H., & Dweck, C. S. (2007). Implicit theories of
intelligence predict achievement across an adolescent transition: A longitudinal study
and an intervention. Child Development, 78(1), 246–263.
•
Dweck, C. S. (2002). Messages that motivate: How praise molds students' beliefs,
motivation, and performance (in surprising ways). In J. Aronson (Ed.), Improving
academic achievement. New York: Academic Press.
•
Dweck, C. S. (1999). Self-Theories: Their role in motivation, personality, and
development. Philadelphia: Taylor and Francis/Psychology Press.
•
Good, C., Dweck, C. S., & Rattan, A. (2006). The effects of perceiving fixed-ability
environments and stereotyping on women’s sense of belonging in math. Unpublished
paper. Barnard College, Columbia University.
•
Marzano, R., Pickering, D., & Pollock, J. (2001). Classroom instruction that works:
Research-based strategies for increasing student achievement. Alexandria, VA:
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
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