Investigating the Impacts of a Semester Long Growth Mindset Intervention on Students' Academic Success in a Human Anatomy Course

Abstract

Human anatomy and physiology are challenging courses for many undergraduate students often leading to low rates of academic success and persistence. Implementation of growth mindset strategies has shown promise in improving academic success in challenging courses; however, few studies have focused specifically on anatomy and physiology courses. To investigate the impact of growth mindset interventions on academic success, lab sections of a human anatomy course were randomly assigned to an intervention or control group. Five growth mindset interventions were integrated into course material for the intervention group at multiple points over the course of the semester. Performance on quizzes and exams, and overall academic success were compared between the groups. The intervention group increased scores in their growth mindsets and performance on low-stake assessments. There was no difference between performance on high-stake assessments and overall academic success. Potential future studies should focus on understanding the impacts this intervention has on specific participant demographics.