Framework for a Growth Mindset Classroom

A growth mindset encourages the development of intelligence, in contrast to a fixed mindset, which considers intelligence to be fixed and unable to be changed. Within computer science education, there is an awareness of a growth mindset, but resources to support the use of a growth mindset in the computer science classroom are limited, and faculty development in the use of growth mindset in the classroom is rare. Researchers have developed a framework for a computer science growth mindset classroom, which includes faculty development, lesson plans, and vocabulary for use with students. In addition, the faculty have formed a community of practice which identifies areas where growth mindset techniques can be used and has implemented these strategies in their classrooms. The framework and materials developed are presented here, with early results from this ongoing work. The objective is to determine if faculty development on growth mindset and active use of the framework for a growth mindset classroom results in superior academic outcomes in CS0 and CS1. Preliminary results are for faculty in both face-to-face and virtual classroom environments.