Honors Theses

Date of Award

Spring 5-14-2023

Document Type

Undergraduate Thesis

Department

Biology

First Advisor

Carol Britson

Second Advisor

Gregg Roman

Third Advisor

Colin Jackson

Relational Format

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

Fixed mindsets and growth mindsets are present in individual’s attitudes, affecting their motivations to complete responsibilities or overcome challenges. In this study, we aim to identify and assess the mindsets of undergraduate students partaking in the Human Anatomy and Physiology (HAP) undergraduate course at the University of Mississippi, the gateway course being well-known for its difficulty and being described as “daunting” to many allied-health majors. By utilizing Carol Dweck’s growth mindset model, we are interested in determining whether students possess a “fixed” mindset versus a “growth” mindset, in conjunction to assessing their classroom performance correlating with that demonstrated mindset. An individual with a “fixed” mindset views their ability as innate and is invaluable to improve if not predisposed to the said ability, whereas an individual with a “growth” mindset views their ability may be enhanced through efforts in improvement. There were significant relationships observed between students’ survey responses that demonstrated a fixed mindset with weaker academic performance as evident by lower course performance scores when compared to demonstration of a growth mindset with higher course performance scores. Students also self-evaluated their capability to succeed in the course and their current performance in the course, and a significant relationship was observed between weaker self-evaluation and lower performance, while stronger self-evaluation corresponded to higher performance.

Accessibility Status

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Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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Anatomy Commons

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