Welcome to Ms. Briggs' Studying Strategies Blog!

I am a ninth grade biology teacher at Friendship Collegiate Academy in Washington, DC.
I have the opportunity to teach incredibly talented and curious 13 and 14 year-olds, but this past year, I noticed an overwhelming trend: many of my students’ test results often did not match their abilities. I investigated this further by analyzing student data and through my own observations and realized that the main thing preventing my students from truly succeeding was their study habits. Many of my students did not study at all for exams, because they did not realize the importance of studying or because they simply did not know how. This blog is designed to be a resource for both parents and students to help support all students in their attempts to become better scholars! Please check out this blog – use the advice and tips, comment with questions or criticism and feel free to add your own resources as we all grow together as an educational community.

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Malleable Intelligence

Many people believe that each individual is born with a set capability or capacity for intelligence.   This misconception may cause others to think, wrongly so, that some people are naturally “smart” while others are naturally “dumb.”  While we each may have our own learning styles or methods for success (which will be addressed later on in this blog!), research has proven that the harder an individual works, the smarter he or she will become.

What does that mean for students?  Basically, anything is possible and YOU are the determiner of your own success.  If you want top grades, it’s up to you to put in the time to earn those grades.  

In 2002, scientists did an experiment with seventh-grade students in New York City to test if malleable intelligence was real.   The scientists separated the 7th graders into two groups during the first eight weeks of the spring term. One group learned about the malleability of intelligence by reading and discussing a science-based article that described how intelligence develops and students can become smarter over time. A control group of seventh-grade students did not learn about intelligence's changeability, and instead learned about memory and testing strategies. The scientists found that as compared to the control group, students who learned about intelligence's malleability had higher academic motivation, better academic behavior, and better grades in mathematics (Blackwell et al, 2002).  

Citation:

Blackwell, L., Dweck, C., & Trzesniewski, K. (2002). Achievement across the adolescent transition: A longitudinal study and an intervention. Manuscript in preparation.

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