Filtering by
- Creators: Henriksen, Danah
This action research study drew upon the intersection of three creative self-belief theories from management and education psychology literature: Jaussi, et al (2007) Creative Identity Theory; Karwowski (2014) Creative Mindset Theory; and Tierney & Farmer (2002) Creative Self-efficacy Theory. These theories arguably stemmed from Burke (1991) Identity Theory; Dweck (2006) Mindset Theory; and Bandura (1977, 1997) Self-efficacy Theory, respectively. This approach was used to understand what factors influenced students’ perceptions about their personal, everyday creativity.
Freshmen business students participated in the study. A concurrent mixed methods approach was used to gather data from the students. Quantitative data came from a post- and retrospective pre-intervention survey that assessed four constructs: creative identity, creative self-efficacy, growth mindset, and fixed mindset. The data also came from the quantitative section of a post-workshop feedback survey asking to rate the effectiveness of each workshop. Qualitative data were gathered in several ways. Student interviews focused on asking how they defined creativity, shared reasons that motivated or inhibited them to practice creativity, and explained to what extent the workshops influenced them. Additional qualitative data came from student reflection essays and the qualitative section of a post-workshop feedback survey.
Research results suggested students gained an increased understanding in the importance of adopting a growth mindset, designating ‘creative’ as a critical identity and building confidence in their creative endeavors. The students’ interview and reflection essay data were consistent with the survey data. Finally, research results from the study highlighted the benefit of creativity training as a crucial, complementary, and iterative form of study in an academic setting allowing students to know themselves better and to prioritize their creative performances as part of their program learning outcomes.
This study investigated how mindset intervention in freshman engineering courses influenced students’ implicit intelligence and self-efficacy beliefs. An intervention which bolsters students’ beliefs that they possess the cognitive tools to perform well in their classes can be the deciding factor in their decision to continue in their engineering major. Treatment was administered across four sections of an introductory engineering course where two professors taught two sections. Across three survey points, one course of each professor received the intervention while the other remained neutral, but the second time point switched this condition, so all students received intervention. Robust efficacy and mindset scales quantitatively measured the strength of their beliefs in their abilities, general and engineering, and if they believed they could change their intelligence and abilities. Repeated measures ANOVA and linear regressions revealed that students who embody a growth mindset tended to have stronger and higher self-efficacy beliefs. With the introduction of intervention, the relationship between mindset and self-efficacy grew stronger and more positive over time.