GSE/RES - Incremental Mindset and Utility for Science Learning and Engagement (I-MUScLE): A Quasi-Experimental Study of the Impacts of Targeted Classroom Treatments

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Intellectual Merit: Northern Illinois University proposes a study to understand inhibitory and promoting factors in males' and females' science outcomes, using a general framework provided by an expectancy-value theory of achievement motivation. Primary variables of interest include students' beliefs about the nature of ability in science as fixed or malleable (mindset) and students' perceptions about the utility of science to their lives (utility value). The research is a quasi-experimental study to test the independent and combined effects of ability beliefs and utility value for adolescent boys and girls. The study will be conducted in 24 7th and 9th grade science classrooms in a large diverse school district (N=600 students). Classrooms will be assigned to one of four treatment groups, with treatments lasting 6 weeks. Using data from surveys, observation, experience sampling techniques, and school records, the researchers will examine the impact of these various treatments on student engagement, achievement, and interest in science, testing for differential effects by gender and grade level. The data will be analyzed using Hierarchical Linear Modeling to account for the nested structure of the data, with students being nested within classrooms.Broader Impacts: The design of the proposed study affords an unprecedented opportunity to test for gender variation in the independent and combined effects of perceptions of science ability and science utility. Theory and research suggest that those perceptions play important roles in the development of learning outcomes, but these two factors have not been examined simultaneously with respect to science, and differential effects by gender have not been adequately explored. The study will impact theory by elucidating the role of specific components of the expectancy-value model in science and by clarifying the role of these components for each gender. The study will impact practice by identifying effective classroom approaches for promoting science engagement, achievement, and interest among boys and girls.