RUME 27
2025
Alexandria, Virginia
Examining Connections Between Students’ Mindsets and Beliefs About Mathematics
Page: 431
Students' beliefs influence the ways in which they learn mathematics. These beliefs can be categorized in different ways and related to growth or fixed mindsets towards mathematics. In our work, we seek to better understand connections between students’ beliefs and mindsets about learning mathematics. We present case studies of two undergraduate students who were enrolled in a first-year college algebra course who demonstrated a shift in mathematical mindset. Our findings highlight the complexity of students’ beliefs and how students can hold both growth and fixed mindsets towards mathematics. We explore how mindsets can be tied to specific categories of beliefs and how those beliefs can influence a student’s overall perspective about learning mathematics. We conclude that mindset interventions and future research should consider how to leverage these mixed mindsets to help students foster more growth-oriented beliefs about mathematics.