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Joe Sheppard's Portfolio Page

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Return to: ETAP 623 Spring 2021 (Byrne) | Growth Mindset in the STEAM Classroom


About Me

My name is Joe Sheppard. My career has been incredibly varied and did not begin in education; although it was always my ambition to end up there. I spent 20 years working in technical theatre as a stagehand, carpenter, rigger, Technical Director, and Project Manager. After leaving full-time theatre work I began to work as a grant writer, loan underwriter, and data analyst in the world of economic development. While I did enjoy this work, it was not fulfilling in the way that I was hoping it would be. So, I returned to school to use my knowledge and experience gained working in theatre to become a Technology Teacher. My middle school tech teacher was the most influential teacher I had in my entire school career. He provided me with a love of technology and was the spark I needed to choose a career in technical theatre. My hope is to provide that same spark and instill a love of technology, engineering, and problem-solving. Currently, I teach K - 4 S.T.E.A.M. and High School Technology Education at a small rural school district in the Finger Lakes.

My Topic and Purpose

STEAM learning is inherently based on problem-solving, trial and error, and experimentation. It is this experimentation, along with a children’s natural curiosity that makes STEAM learning engaging and fun. However, as students work through problems and experiment to discover solutions, there will be many opportunities for them to fail. It is this failure that could lead to discouragement and frustration among many students, eventually dissuading them from taking part in the STEAM fields. As students experience failure and become frustrated they tend to just give up, because of feelings that they are just not good enough at a specific subject, or just not smart enough. It is this fixed mindset that the STEAM teacher must work to combat and shift towards one more focused upon growth. In order to do this, the STEAM teacher must recognize what a growth mindset is, along with the various strategies to foster it and the barriers that exist. An understanding of a growth mindset can assist the STEAM teacher in alleviating student frustration and help them overcome the hurdle to learning that a fixed mindset presents.

Scope of Learning Outcomes and Content

By the end of this course students will be able to:

  • Define growth mindset.
  • Recognize the differences between fixed and growth mindsets.
  • Identify barriers to fostering a growth mindset.
  • Appreciate the need to foster a growth mindset in their classrooms.
  • Analyze classroom strategies used to foster a growth mindset and determine potential areas for deterrence.

Needs Assessment

1. Instructional problem:
The S.T.E.A.M. classroom typically incorporates learning based upon open-ended exploration and experimentation during project-based learning activities. The open-ended nature of these activities, tied in with guided experimentation, could prove to be frustrating to many students who do not see themselves as capable enough to take on the challenges posed by this type of learning. Students may view themselves as incapable due to a belief that the subject matter taught in a S.T.E.A.M. classroom is something that only smart people are capable of doing, along with various social cues or other factors in the school community that can contribute to a low concept of student ability (Carsten Conner, Tsursaki, Teal Sullivan, Guthrie, & Pompea, 2019). All of which contributes to a fixed student mindset, as opposed to one that is focused upon growth.

A student's mindset is the perception that they hold about their abilities, their frame of reference (Smith, 2020). This psychological mindset plays a critical role in their level of academic achievement (Rattan, Savani, Chugh, & Dweck, 2015). A fixed mindset is one that believes ability is inherent and cannot be changed; in contrast to a growth mindset that believes ability can change through mentoring and the use of appropriate instructional strategies (Carston Conner et al., 2019). Through the use of appropriate instructional strategies meant to shift student thinking from a fixed mindset to one focused upon growth, racial, gender, and social achievement gaps can be closed, while improving student grades and motivation particularly among those students who are struggling (Rattan et al., 2015). Appropriate strategies are ones focused on quieting the inner negative voice, removing judgment, and increasing levels of engagement (Carsten Conner et al., 2019). A shift in mindset creates learners who seek to learn and improve, pursue challenges and value effort (Rattan et al., 2015) which is desirous to an efficient and productive learning community.

2. The nature of what is to be learned:
As a result of this course, learners will be introduced to the definition of a growth mindset, barriers to fostering it, strategies to recognize fixed mindset in students, and strategies meant to shift student thinking from fixed to one focused on growth. Learners will be introduced to questioning strategies, potential activities, assessment techniques, and feedback mechanisms all geared towards student growth.

3. About the learners:
This course is geared to learners interested in establishing a growth mindset in their classroom. While the establishment of a growth mindset can benefit learners of all ages this course will be focused on strategies designed for the elementary level classroom. Additionally, many of the activities outlined in this mini-course will be focused upon a S.T.E.A.M. classroom, although the strategies can be utilized across subject matter. Finally, it is vital for in-service or pre-service teachers in K-12 education to gain an understanding of growth mindset as they enter the classroom and grow confidence and take risks in order to improve student learning (Carston Conner et al., 2019).

Performance-Based Objectives

As a result of this course students will be able to:

  • Correctly define growth mindset during a discussion with colleagues.
  • Describe the importance of fostering a growth mindset in their classrooms when discussing with colleagues.
  • Identify the characteristics of both a growth mindset and fixed mindset when presented with a list that could pertain to each.
  • Compare and contrast classroom environments in order to identify methods that could foster, or hinder, growth mindset when presented with case studies.
  • Develop a list of strategies to utilize in order to foster a growth mindset in their classroom when presented with various instructional scenarios.
  • Identify the barriers present in a classroom that could limit the ability of a student to develop a growth mindset.

Task Analysis

UNIT 1: INTRODUCTION TO GROWTH MINDSET

  1. Learners will be introduced to the definition of a growth mindset.
  2. Learners will examine the traits of a growth mindset.
  3. Learners will examine the traits of a fixed mindset.
  4. Learners will compare the traits of growth and fixed mindset.
  5. Learners will be tasked with deciphering between the traits of a growth mindset and a fixed mindset.

UNIT 2: FOSTERING A GROWTH MINDSET

  1. Learners will examine methods of embracing mistakes to foster a growth mindset in their classroom.
  2. Learners will examine strategies of utilizing praise in order to foster a growth mindset.
  3. Learners will examine assessment strategies useful in fostering a growth mindset.
  4. Learners will examine feedback strategies useful in fostering a growth mindset.
  5. Learners will examine questioning strategies useful in fostering a growth mindset.
  6. Learners will be tasked to discover strategies that promote effort over success.

UNIT 3: TASKS TO PROMOTE GROWTH MINDSET

  1. Learners will explore the types of classroom tasks that can build a growth mindset.
  2. Learners will explore sense-making and the way in which it can foster a growth mindset.
  3. Learners will be tasked to create tasks that can foster a growth mindset in their students.

UNIT 4: BARRIERS TO ESTABLISHING GROWTH MINDSET

  1. Learners will explore the various barriers to establishing a growth mindset in students.
  2. Learners will be tasked to discover barriers to establishing a growth mindset.

Curriculum Map

File:Growth Mindset Concept Map.pdf

References and Resources


Carsten Conner, L. D., Tsurusaki, B. K., Tzou, C., Teal Sullivan, P., Guthrie, M., & Pompea, S. M. (2019). Fostering a steam mindset across learning settings. Retrieved March 10, 2021, from https://www.nsta.org/connected-science-learning/connected-science-learning-october-december-2019/fostering-steam-mindset

Mindset Works, Inc. (2017). Decades of scientific research that started a growth Mindset revolution. Retrieved March 07, 2021, from https://www.mindsetworks.com/science/

Rattan, A., Savani, K., Chugh, D., & Dweck, C. S. (2015). Leveraging mindsets to promote academic achievement. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 10(6), 721-726. doi:10.1177/1745691615599383

Smith, M. J. O. (2020). STEAM Mindset. In A. Ottenbreit-Leftwich & R. Kimmons (Eds.), The K-12 Educational Technology Handbook. EdTech Books. https://edtechbooks.org/k12handbook/steam

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