A longitudinal study of how mindsets influence motivation: Focusing on the interpretation of in-class feedback

This research explored how a growth/fixed mindset influences learning motivation, particularly focusing on students’ interpretations of in-class feedback. A nine-week longitudinal study was conducted at a private university in Tokyo, in which a sample of 25 students completed a set of questions after each English class, giving a dataset of 135 cases. The students reported how they interpreted the feedback from a teacher during the lesson and how much they were motivated to invest more time and effort on English learning. Multilevel regression analysis revealed (a) a growth-oriented interpretation of the teacher’s in-class feedback increased students’ learning motivation, and (b) the above effect was stronger among the students with a more marked growth mindset. In summary, the current study confirmed that students’ learning motivation may be affected by their interpretations of teachers’ in-class feedback, especially when they have a growth mindset and their interpretation is in accordance with their mindset. The benefit of endorsing longitudinal data collection to investigate in-class interactions between teachers and students in real educational settings is discussed.