'It's not enough to just be nice': WSU study highlights importance of teachers' mindset

SEATTLE — A Washington State University (WSU) study found it's not enough for a teacher to be nice. What students really crave is an instructor who thinks they could improve.

The idea of a "growth mindset" compared to a "fixed mindset" has been around for quite some time. This study found that a teachers' growth mindset appears more important than warmth.

Makita White, a psychology Ph.D. candidate at WSU, is the lead author for the study.

White said for the study they had college students imagine interacting with an instructor. They varied whether the instructor conveyed a "growth mindset," which is the belief that ability can change over time or a "fixed mindset," which is the belief that ability is innate or unchangeable. They also varied whether they conveyed that mindset in a way that was warm and friendly or cold and unapproachable.

White said they found students responded well to a warm and friendly instructor, but what they really craved is an instructor who thought they could improve.

Overall, students responded best to an instructor who conveyed a "growth mindset message" and was warm and friendly while they did it.

For the study, 332 college students were presented with one of four situations describing a professors with varying demeanors and mindsets. The students answered a series of questions from researchers about their opinion of the professor and the class taught.

According to a press release from WSU, "In the growth mindset scenarios, the professor stated that 'any student can learn the material' if they worked hard, learned from mistakes and sought help when needed. In the fixed mindset vignettes, the professor said that some students had 'a natural gift in statistics' while other students might struggle if they weren't a 'stats person.'"

“At a very simple level, being friendly is good, but the mindset messages that you send students are really important. They can be even more powerful than just being friendly or welcoming to students,” said Elizabeth Canning, assistant professor of psychology at WSU.

This is a proof-of-concept study that was published in the journal Motivation Science.