Studying the relationship between intelligence beliefs and academic performance of students with learning difficulties

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 M.A. in General Psychology, Faculty of Human Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Tehran Science & Research Branch, Tehran, Iran

2 Ph.D. candidate in Psychology, Department of Education & Counseling, Faculty of Psychology & Education, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Aim: The aim of the present research was to study the relationship between intelligence beliefs and academic performance of students with learning difficulties in first and second grades of high schools. Methods: Research population consisted of all girls studying in first and second grades of Tehran’s 5th district high school from among whom a number of 60 students were chosen. The sampling method was that six high schools were selected from 5th district using convenient sampling method, and from each school, 10 students with learning difficulties were randomly selected from among students identified by teachers or school counselors as having learning difficulties. Research tools included Zabihi & Hesari’s Intelligence Beliefs Questionnaire (2005) and grade point average of students as index of their academic performance. Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficient.Results: Data analysis showed that there is a significant relationship between intelligence beliefs and academic achievement. In addition, there is a stronger relationship between the incremental intelligence beliefs and academic performance in comparison to the relationship between inherent intelligence beliefs and academic performance. Conclusion: Findings of the present study point to the importance of improving the incremental intelligence beliefs among students in order to improve their academic performance.

Keywords

References

Aronson, J., Fried, C.B., & Good, C. (2002). Reducing the Effects of Stereotype Threat on African American College Students by Shaping Theories of Intelligence. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology,38(2), 113-125.
Atwood, J. R. (2010). Mindset, Motivation and Metaphor in School and Sport: Bifurcated Beliefs and Behavior in Two Different Achievement Domains. Paper presented at theAnnual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Denver, CO, April-May 2010. ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED509344.
Blackwell, L. S., Trzesniewski, K. H., & Dweck, C. S. (2007). Implicit Theories of Intelligence Predict Achievement Across an Adolescent Transition: A Longitudinal Study and an Intervention. Childdevelopment, 78(1), 246-263.
Blazer, Ch. (2011). How Students’ Beliefs About Their Intelligence Influence Their Academic Performance. Information Capsule research services, 1012, 1-7.
Cury, F., Da Fonseca, D., Zahn, I., & Elliott, A. (2008). Implicit Theories and IQ Test Performance: A Sequential Mediational Analysis. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 44(3), 783-791.
Da Fonseca, D., Cury, F., Bailly, D., & Rufo, M. (2004). Role of the Implicit Theories of Intelligence in Learning Situations. Encephale, 30(5), 456-463.
Dweck, C. S. (1986). Motivational processes affecting learning. Americanpsychologist, 41(10), 1040.
Dweck, C. S. (2000). Self-theories: Their role in motivation, personality, and development. Psychology Press.
Dweck, C. S., & Leggett, E. L. (1988). A social-cognitive approach to motivation and personality. Psychological review, 95(2), 256.
Dweck, C. S. (2008a). Mindsets and Math/Science Achievement. Paper prepared for the Carnegie-IAS Commission on Mathematics and Science Education. Retrieved from http://opportunityequation.org/teaching-and-leadership/mindsets-math-science-achievement.
Dweck, C. S. (2008b). Brainology: Transforming Students’ Motivation to Learn. National Association of Independent Schools. Retrieved from http://www.nais.org/publications/ismagazinearticle.cfm?Item Number=150509.
Dweck, C. S. (2010). Mind-Sets and Equitable Education. Principal Leadership, 10(5), 26-29.
Elliott, E. S., & Dweck, C. S. (1988). Goals: an approach to motivation and achievement. Journal of personality and social psychology, 54(1), 5.
Em, A. (2010). We Fix It By Not Being Fixed. Serendip’s Exchange, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA. Retrieved from http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/8409.
Flanigan, A. E., Peteranetz, M. S., Shell, D. F., & Soh, L. K. (2017). Implicit intelligence beliefs of computer science students: Exploring change across the semester. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 48, 179-196.
Good, C., Aronson, J., & Inzlicht, M. (2003). Improving Adolescents’ Standardized Test Performance: An Intervention to Reduce the Effects of Stereotype Threat. Applied Developmental Psychology, 24(6), 645-662.
Graham, S. (2017). Attention-deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Learning Disabilities (LD), and executive functioning: Recommendations for future research. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 50, 97-101.
Lubin, J., & Polloway, E. A. (2016). Mnemonic Instruction in Science and Social Studies for Students with Learning Problems: A Review. Learning Disabilities: A Contemporary Journal, 14(2), 207-224.
Murphy, L., & Thomas, L. (2008). Dangers of a Fixed Mindset: Implications of Self-Theories Research for CS Education. In Proceedings of the 13th Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in ComputerScience Education, Madrid, Spain, June-July 2008. Retrieved from
Palardy, G. J., Rumberger, R. W., & Butler, T. (2015). The Effect of High School Socioeconomic, Racial, and Linguistic Segregation on Academic Performance and School Behaviors. Teachers College Record, 117(12), n12.
Purkey, S. C., & Smith, M. S. (1982). Too Soon to Cheer? Synthesis of Research on Effective Schools. Educational Leadership, 40(3), 64-69.
Purkey, S. C., & Smith, M. S. (1983). Effective schools: A review. The elementaryschool journal, 427-452.
Renaud-Dubé, A., Guay, F., Talbot, D., Taylor, G., & Koestner, R. (2015). The relations between implicit intelligence beliefs, autonomous academic motivation, and school persistence intentions: a mediation model. Social Psychology of Education, 18(2), 255-272.
Sternberg, R. J. (1985). Implicit theories of intelligence, creativity, and wisdom.Journal of personality and social psychology, 49(3), 607.
Stump, G. S., Husman, J., & Corby, M. (2014). Engineering students' intelligence beliefs and learning. Journal of Engineering Education, 103(3), 369-387.
Stump, G., Husman, J., Chung, W-T., & Done, A. (2009). Student Beliefs about Intelligence: Relationship to Learning. Paper presented at the Frontiers in Education Conference, San Antonio, TX, and October 2009. Retrieved from http://fie-conference.org/fie2009/papers/1283.pdf.
Tan, D., Yough, M., Desmet, O. A., & Pereira, N. (2018). Middle School Students’ Beliefs about Intelligence and Giftedness. Journal of Advanced Academics, 1932202X18809360.
Wang, J. C., Chiu, C. Y., Hong, Y. Y., Liu, W. C., Tay, E. G., Nie, Y., ... & Sim, C. M. Q. (2016). The power of beliefs in impacting motivation: Motivating the academically unmotivated.
Wellman, H. M., Cross, D., & Watson, J. (2001). Meta‐analysis of theory‐of‐mind development: the truth about false belief. Child development, 72(3), 655-684.
 
 
Empowering Exceptional Children
Volume 10, Issue 1
August 2019
Pages 116-124

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 10 August 2019
  • Accept Date: 10 August 2019

Share

How to cite

Statistics