There’s a scene in the 1988 movie "Stand and Deliver," where high school math teacher Jaime Escalante (played by Edward James Olmos) argues with the head of the school’s math program about the ...

A challenging math problem can make some students break into a cold sweat and others excited to wrap their brains around a puzzle. A wealth of research suggests that a student’s academic ...

The idea that math is a natural-born talent—that some people just “get it,” and others won’t no matter the time and effort put in—is a mentality that researchers and schools have been challenging for ...

A growth mindset is the belief that one’s abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work. Fostering a growth mindset among students is critical to their success, says Juli Dixon, Ph.D., a ...

Historically, students have been led to believe that they are either destined to be good at math or that they just “aren’t a math person.” At Springfield (MO) Public Schools, we wanted all of our ...

Our relationship with math learning is severely damaged in this country. In 2022, only 26 percent of all eighth grade students scored proficient or above in mathematics. Even more concerning is that ...

In the gaming world, perseverance, problem solving, and creativity are the keys to success. Players start out expecting to struggle and make mistakes, eagerly replaying levels and pushing through ...

One of the challenges with research in psychology is going from promising lab results to the use of those findings in the world. New results are often touted as a great way to fix a social or ...

“I’ll never be able to afford to travel” → “I can’t afford to travel yet.” “I’m a horrible dancer” → “I haven’t learned how to dance yet.” “I’m terrible with names” → “I haven’t learned your name yet.

Those who have a growth mindset think of intelligence and other abilities—athletic, musical, artistic, etc.—as developing over time and that there are always opportunities to learn. Those with a fixed ...