How does teachers' noticing of students' fixed mindsets relate to teachers' knowledge, beliefs, and experience? An exploratory study

Students' belief that abilities are unchangeable (fixed mindset) can hamper learning. Teachers should thus be able to recognize such problematic beliefs. We explored whether teachers' skills to notice stu-dents' fixed mindset were related to teachers' knowledge about learners' beliefs, teachers' mindset, and their experience. Our sample included pre-service and in-service mathematics teachers (N = 112). Noticing (i.e., attending and interpreting) was measured with text scenarios. Results indicate that knowledge supported noticing, especially interpreting, whereas teachers' growth mindset was unrelated to noticing. Experience was associated with less declarative knowledge and, in turn, with less noticing. (c) 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Automated summary

Students' fixed mindset beliefs can hinder learning, so it is important for teachers to be able to recognize them. We investigated whether teachers' ability to notice students' fixed mindset was related to their knowledge of learners' beliefs, teachers' mindset, and experience. Our study included both pre-service and in-service mathematics teachers (N = 112). The results showed that knowledge supported noticing, particularly interpreting, while teachers' growth mindset had no relationship with noticing. Experience was associated with less declarative knowledge and, consequently, less noticing.