Tag: growth mindset

Taking Grades (Stress) Out of Learning – Faculty Focus
I found myself sitting in a classroom, staring at a test I couldn’t answer. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t recall learning any of the material. The harder I struggled to remember, the more my anxiety grew—until I jolted awake, covered in sweat. It was the same nightmare that had haunted me for over a decade. One day, during a casual conversation, a colleague—a psychology professor—made an unexpected observation: my experience resembled symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Me? Trauma?

My Learning Experience: From a Model Student to Getting Lost

I grew up in China in the 1980s as the only child of factory workers. Having experienced hardship, my parents hoped I would escape their life by earning a college degree. They told me a good education would guarantee a bright future.

From a young age, I pushed myself to excel academically. In my mind, the purpose of learning was to get good grades. Grades were everything—symbols of success and a source of validation. But this came with a constant fear: the fear of failure, of disappointing my parents, and of falling short of expectations.

This fear intensified in high school, where frequent tests ranked students publicly. I studied relentlessly under immense pressure, and my hard work paid off when I was accepted to my desired university. I continued this pattern in college, focused solely on grades and making my parents proud. But when I graduated, I felt lost. I had no clear direction or career. Didn’t my parents tell me a college education would ensure a bright future? Where was my future?

In my confusion, I began reading for curiosity rather than exams. One day, I came across The Importance of Living by Lin Yutang, who critiqued the Chinese education system. He argued that modern education prioritized memorization over true understanding, with grades and diplomas replacing the real purpose of learning. He compared knowledge to an adventurous exploration, best enjoyed with an open and curious mind.¹

That moment of reading was transformative. I realized I had never understood the true purpose of education; I had equated learning with good grades, a narrow and misleading focus. Reflecting on my educational journey, I saw how it had been marked by stress, fear, and a constant chase for perfection.

In that moment, I knew I wanted to become a teacher educator. I wanted to help future teachers see education for what it truly is—a journey of growth, curiosity, and empowerment, not just a pursuit of grades. My goal was to break the cycle of stress and fear that had shaped my own experience and instead inspire educators to foster passion, encourage exploration, and create a lasting, positive impact on their students’ lives.

My Teaching Journey: Cultivating a Growth Mindset Through Ungrading

For the past 11 years, I have been a professor of social studies education, working with both pre-service and in-service teachers. I have never used traditional tests in my classes because I don’t believe that teaching ability can be measured through exams. Instead, I assess my students’ learning through lesson plans, presentations, and projects—assignments that require logical reasoning, creativity, and critical thinking. To accompany this teaching philosophy, I adopt ungrading² in all my courses.

Below are some practices I use in my ungraded class, focusing on learning and growth.

Feedback-Only: No Points

I do not attach points to any assignments. Instead, I provide rich feedback. If students want to know how well they did in an assignment, they must read my feedback. I believe that mistakes are one of the most powerful learning tools. By removing the pressure of grades, students are less afraid to take risks and make errors, knowing they will have opportunities to revise and improve. In my classroom, mistakes aren’t something to fear—they’re an essential part of the learning process.

Steps:
1. Provide explicit instructions in class. Ask for questions to ensure every student understands how to complete the assignment.
2. Follow the “Feedback Sandwich”³ method to give each student rich feedback. Through the Learning Management System (LMS) in my university, Desire2Learn (D2L), I prefer giving feedback through video, allowing my students to hear my voice and see my facial expressions to better understand the tone. This personalized approach makes feedback more engaging and encourages students to reflect, revise, and improve their work.
3. Students revise and resubmit their work.
4. I review their revised work and provide further feedback.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until students’ work reaches the standards and the lesson’s objectives.
Guided Reflections

Reflection is a vital part of learning. It encourages students to recognize the value of their experiences, deepen their self-awareness as learners, and apply their knowledge in meaningful ways to their lives.

In addition to the reflections accompanying projects, I use one mid-term reflection and one end-of-semester. ⁴

Some typical questions in the mid-term reflection include:
- What were your goals for this course?
- What are some of the main things you’ve learned so far?
- Review all your reading quizzes (or any other small assignments). How do you evaluate your preparation for them?
- How many assignments have you completed, including peer evaluations?
- Is there anything remaining uncompleted? If so, please list them here.
  
  Item(s)
  
  Anticipated date(s) of completion
- How do you feel about your participation during class? Explain.
- How many class meetings did you miss? If you missed any, what were the legitimate reasons?
- Is there anything you would like me to help with?
- What would it be if you were to give yourself a grade right now? Why?
Some typical questions in the end-of-semester reflection include:
- Read your (individual assignment) and feedback. Have you revised your work based on the feedback? Why or why not?
- Read your (group project) and feedback. Thinking of your contribution to this project, what did you learn from it?
- What do you know now that you didn’t know at the beginning of the semester?
- After taking this course, what profound insights have you gained about social studies education?
- How many classes did you miss? What legitimate reasons did you have for missing those classes?
- Please suggest a grade for yourself. Justify why you give yourself that grade.
Ungrading may not lighten an instructor’s workload, however, the effort I invested in this approach has proven immensely rewarding. I’ve witnessed a noticeable shift toward more internally motivated students, stronger professor-student relationships, and, most importantly, happier, less stressed students. The sense of fulfillment that comes from these positive changes is unparalleled.

Jing A. Williams is Professor of Social Studies Education at the University of South Dakota (USD). She teaches elementary and secondary social studies methods courses. She is the three-time recipient of the Faculty Excellence Awards in Teaching at the School of Education at USD. In 2024, she was the keynote speaker at the Online Faculty Symposium hosted by USD’s Center for Teaching and Learning. Dr. Williams’ research interest focuses on the global perspective of social studies education. She is the lead author of Teaching with a Global Perspective: Approaches and Strategies for Secondary Social Studies Teachers, published by the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) in 2024. She is the Book/Media Review Editor of the Journal of International Social Studies, the official publication of the International Assembly of the NCSS.

¹ Lin Yutang, The Importance of Living (Beijing, China: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 1998).

² Susan Blum, Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead, ed. Susan Blum (Morgantown: West Virginia University Press, 2020).

³ The Muse Editors, “Feedback Sandwich: Does It Really Work? When and how to Use It,” The Muse, 12/23/2024, accessed on December 29, 2024. https://www.themuse.com/advice/feedback-sandwich

⁴ These reflection prompts are revised based on the samples from: Susan Blum, “Just One Change (Just Kidding): Ungrading and Its Necessary Accompaniments,” in Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead, ed. Susan D. Blum (Morgantown: West Virginia University Press, 2020), 53-73.

References

Blum, Susan. Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead). Morgantown: West Virginia University Press, 2020.

Fink, L. Creating Significant Learning Experiences: An Integrated Approach to Designing College Courses. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2013.

Lin, Yutang. The Importance of Living. Beijing, China: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 1998.

The Muse Editors. “Feedback Sandwich: Does It Really Work? When and how to Use It.” The Muse, 12/23/2024. Accessed on December 29, 2024. https://www.themuse.com/advice/feedback-sandwich
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April 18, 2025
Can We Teach Talent? How Mindsets Can Foster Entrepreneurial Success – Faculty Focus
Can we teach entrepreneurship? This is a question that has vexed entrepreneurship scholars for generations, and it still is a question that is relevant today (Klein & Bullock, 2006). The Austrian economist Ludwig Von Mises (1949) who is one of the main precursorsof the field, argued that entrepreneurship is neither taught nor learned, for entrepreneurs see the world differently than others, perceiving what others don’t, breaking new ground where others are just “doing” what has been done before. As such, entrepreneurs come to be depicted as those who are dealing with novelty and complex scenarios, and they make decisions in ways that go beyond the “rational” models of normal social science. In many ways, entrepreneurship is treated as an inherent trait or skill that is not formalizable, and thus it is a behavioral trait, not an acquired skill.

This would fly in the face of the modern institutional environment of entrepreneurship research and education. For example, entrepreneurship is a field of study that is growing in business schools. Many currently offer minors in entrepreneurship or even majors, and some are offering PhD courses in Entrepreneurship to train the next generation of scholars and teachers in the field. Still, if Entrepreneurship is an inherent trait or talent, are we wasting resources and time, both of our students and ours, by attempting to teach what cannot be taught?

Such a question is not limited to the field of entrepreneurship itself. Entrepreneurship can be seen as a special case of the more general debate of “nurture” vs “nature” in teaching and learning. If intelligence and abilities are fixed from the outset, the teacher’s job becomes one of weeding out those who don’t have the innate potential and providing those with innate potential the information and tools to develop and refine what they already have. Your students will either be good Mathematicians, or they won’t. Actors will be good at playing a role, or they won’t. Singers will sing, or they will bother us making sounds we do not want to hear, etc, you can see the point. For both instructors and their students, that means adopting a mindset that avoids persistence in favor of pivoting and changing course. Early failures and failed first trials are not interpreted as a diagnosis of what could be done, and are instead seen as proof of what can’t (Yeager & Dweck, 2020).

This is where a growth mindset intervention has its place. Growth mindset theories question the claim that intelligence, talent, and skills are simply inherent traits of individuals, and see instead that education, training, and learning are not only tools to explore the potential that already exists, or even develop untapped potential, but they also may be the source of supposed “talent” (Yeager et al., 2020). With a growth mindset even talented individuals benefit and can advance their field, skills or capabilities. As Dweck (2018) showcased, even Olympic athletes benefit from a growth mindset. Athletes such as Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods pushed themselves, analyzed their performance, and addressed their weaknesses, achieving greater performance through persistent effort.

This example can be extended to different scenarios, such as music. A case of note is Avenged Sevenfold’s singer Matt Shadows. After a quick headstart into fame pioneering the Metalcore genre, Shadows quickly learned that technique and discipline are the crucial bedrock for his (in the author’s opinion) amazing singing abilities. In a recent interview for the Finnish magazine Chaoszine (2024), he mentioned how he developed a set of routines to better his singing that range from a well-planned diet to the way he sleeps. If talent was all he had, he would simply get on stage and sing. Instead, he developed what can be seen as a growth mindset where consistent training, practice, and care were the bedrock for what he did.

Where does entrepreneurship come into play in all of this? As my argument goes, for starters even if talent is somewhat inherent, it will not turn into successful outcomes if not for the possession of a growth mindset. Beyond that, even if not first showcased as talent, skills do emerge if effort, motivated by a growth mindset, is present. Research has showcased how a growth mindset improves entrepreneurial self-efficacy (defined as the beliefs one has about his ability to bring about a desired outcome) in higher education students, increasing their task persistence and career interest (Burnette et al, 2020). In other settings similar results were reported, where growth mindset interventions created positive feedback loops in academic performance (Limeri et al., 2020). Both cases reinforce the argument that for entrepreneurs or students reducing how much failure impacts decisions to persist is crucial if capabilities to succeed are to be achieved, and entrepreneurship education would benefit from taking a more experimental, trial-based approach strengthened by a growth mindset.

For us teachers, that implies that our role is greater than what a “nature” based perspective on education would allow. Teaching and learning now have more than a dimension of giving students knowledge that they’ll turn into what they are already capable of turning it into (basically showing a student who already has a propensity to be good in Mathematics what calculus is). Education now becomes a quest for developing in students the skills, discipline and mindset needed for their successful learning paths. In less abstract terms, teaching is not reproducing knowledge, but also teaching how to acquire knowledge or how to start a practice (Seaton, 2017).

For entrepreneurship educators, that is translated into a competence development approach for how they educate their students. The intended outcome (entrepreneurial value-creating activity) has as its input the myriad of competencies developed in training for taking up the tasks and challenges associated with the entrepreneurial journey (Mawson & Simmons, 2023). As previous research showcases (Camuffo et al., 2020), entrepreneurs become comparatively more successful when failures are absorbed and used as a means for diagnosing what needs to be changed. Entrepreneurs, much like academics and students, are working in a trial-and-error environment where what is important is not to immediately succeed. Immediate success, although desirable, does not let the entrepreneur (or student) learn how to adapt to unforeseen changes and failures.

For educators in general, the situation is not that much different. We need to show our students that they can be more than what their current limits impose on them, and that is where a growth mindset intervention comes into play. Mathematics, entrepreneurship, and acting, should not be inherently reserved for those who showcased these skills from the outset. Students can grow into those roles by using failure as a form of diagnosis for future learning. One of the ways to do such is to realize such interventions in the classroom entails using coursework as a way of showcasing how students may change their own self-efficacy (as their self-perceived ability to achieve a goal or complete a task). Here are general principles for growth-mindset interventions:
1. Use assignments at a greater frequency to assess progress and give early feedback (Ex: Weekly mini-tests come into play here).
1. When providing feedback, not only say what was wrong but provide a clear blueprint of what the student can do to correct previous mistakes (Ex: When delivering a corrected test to the student, consider handling it with a note on his strengths and weaknesses, and what you would like him to study to avoid the same mistakes on the next test).
1. Emphasize how past failure can be traded for future success through persistent trials. (Ex: Cumulative tests can be useful here, where knowledge from one assignment builds into the next one).
They can be seen as practical cues for teaching students, likely entrepreneurs or not. In education, science or business, failures may be seen as negative feedback in the short-run, but can be used as a tool for positive improvement in the long-run. Students and entrepreneurs with a growth mindset do not see failure as a simple one-time event that signals the need to pivot away from the subject, topic or field. Instead, a growth mindset enables them to interpret failure as a learning cue that showcases the need to change their strategies, reassess their assumptions and reallocate their efforts to try again. Mathematics, entrepreneurship, and acting, should not be inherently reserved for those who showcased these skills from the outset, and fear from failure should not stop someone from trying. Once again, it is to be emphasized that students can grow into those roles through persistent (but directed) effort, and we better help them try, for how many might-have-beens could have been realized, if not for a lack of a growth mindset?

Luan Valério is a PhD Student in Entrepreneurship at Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business in Texas, having previously obtained a BA in Economics back in his home country, Brazil. His research interests encompass strategic entrepreneurship, decision-making under uncertainty and entrepreneurial education.

References

Camuffo, A., Cordova, A., Gambardella, A., Spina, C. (2020). A Scientific Approach to Entrepreneurial Decision Making: Evidence from a Randomized Control Trial. Management Science, 66(2), 564-586.

Chaoszine Magazine. (2024). My Story As Metal Frontman #87: M.Shadows (Avenged Sevenfold). In: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpYgwdE82jo

Dweck, Carol. (2018) Mindsets: Developing Talent Through a Growth Mindset. Olympic Coach, 7, n.21.

Limeri, L.B., Carter, N.T., Choe, J. et al. (2020). Growing a growth mindset: characterizing how and why undergraduate students’ mindsets change. IJ STEM Ed 7, 35.

Yeager, D. S., & Dweck, C. S. (2020). What can be learned from growth mindset controversies? American Psychologist, 75(9), 1269–1284.

Burnette, J. L., Pollack, J. M., Forsyth, R. B., Hoyt, C. L., Babij, A. D., Thomas, F. N., & Coy, A. E. (2020). A Growth Mindset Intervention: Enhancing Students’ Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy and Career Development. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 44(5), 878- 908.

Klein, Peter G. & Bullock, J. Bruce, (2006). “Can Entrepreneurship Be Taught?,” Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 38(2), pages 1-11.

Klein, Peter G. & Bylund, Per. (2014). The Place of Austrian Economics in Contemporary Entrepreneurship Research. Review of Austrian Economics, 27, 259-279.

Mises, Ludwig Von. (1949). Human Action: A Treatise on Economics. The Ludwig Von Mises Institute.

Mawson, S., Casulli, L., & Simmons, E. L. (2023). A Competence Development Approach for Entrepreneurial Mindset in Entrepreneurship Education. Entrepreneurship Education and Pedagogy, 6(3), 481-501.

Seaton, F. S. (2017). Empowering teachers to implement a growth mindset. Educational Psychology in Practice, 34(1), 41–57.
Source link
April 4, 2025
Can We Teach Talent? How Mindsets Can Foster Entrepreneurial Success – Faculty Focus
Can we teach entrepreneurship? This is a question that has vexed entrepreneurship scholars for generations, and it still is a question that is relevant today (Klein & Bullock, 2006). The Austrian economist Ludwig Von Mises (1949) who is one of the main precursorsof the field, argued that entrepreneurship is neither taught nor learned, for entrepreneurs see the world differently than others, perceiving what others don’t, breaking new ground where others are just “doing” what has been done before. As such, entrepreneurs come to be depicted as those who are dealing with novelty and complex scenarios, and they make decisions in ways that go beyond the “rational” models of normal social science. In many ways, entrepreneurship is treated as an inherent trait or skill that is not formalizable, and thus it is a behavioral trait, not an acquired skill.

This would fly in the face of the modern institutional environment of entrepreneurship research and education. For example, entrepreneurship is a field of study that is growing in business schools. Many currently offer minors in entrepreneurship or even majors, and some are offering PhD courses in Entrepreneurship to train the next generation of scholars and teachers in the field. Still, if Entrepreneurship is an inherent trait or talent, are we wasting resources and time, both of our students and ours, by attempting to teach what cannot be taught?

Such a question is not limited to the field of entrepreneurship itself. Entrepreneurship can be seen as a special case of the more general debate of “nurture” vs “nature” in teaching and learning. If intelligence and abilities are fixed from the outset, the teacher’s job becomes one of weeding out those who don’t have the innate potential and providing those with innate potential the information and tools to develop and refine what they already have. Your students will either be good Mathematicians, or they won’t. Actors will be good at playing a role, or they won’t. Singers will sing, or they will bother us making sounds we do not want to hear, etc, you can see the point. For both instructors and their students, that means adopting a mindset that avoids persistence in favor of pivoting and changing course. Early failures and failed first trials are not interpreted as a diagnosis of what could be done, and are instead seen as proof of what can’t (Yeager & Dweck, 2020).

This is where a growth mindset intervention has its place. Growth mindset theories question the claim that intelligence, talent, and skills are simply inherent traits of individuals, and see instead that education, training, and learning are not only tools to explore the potential that already exists, or even develop untapped potential, but they also may be the source of supposed “talent” (Yeager et al., 2020). With a growth mindset even talented individuals benefit and can advance their field, skills or capabilities. As Dweck (2018) showcased, even Olympic athletes benefit from a growth mindset. Athletes such as Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods pushed themselves, analyzed their performance, and addressed their weaknesses, achieving greater performance through persistent effort.

This example can be extended to different scenarios, such as music. A case of note is Avenged Sevenfold’s singer Matt Shadows. After a quick headstart into fame pioneering the Metalcore genre, Shadows quickly learned that technique and discipline are the crucial bedrock for his (in the author’s opinion) amazing singing abilities. In a recent interview for the Finnish magazine Chaoszine (2024), he mentioned how he developed a set of routines to better his singing that range from a well-planned diet to the way he sleeps. If talent was all he had, he would simply get on stage and sing. Instead, he developed what can be seen as a growth mindset where consistent training, practice, and care were the bedrock for what he did.

Where does entrepreneurship come into play in all of this? As my argument goes, for starters even if talent is somewhat inherent, it will not turn into successful outcomes if not for the possession of a growth mindset. Beyond that, even if not first showcased as talent, skills do emerge if effort, motivated by a growth mindset, is present. Research has showcased how a growth mindset improves entrepreneurial self-efficacy (defined as the beliefs one has about his ability to bring about a desired outcome) in higher education students, increasing their task persistence and career interest (Burnette et al, 2020). In other settings similar results were reported, where growth mindset interventions created positive feedback loops in academic performance (Limeri et al., 2020). Both cases reinforce the argument that for entrepreneurs or students reducing how much failure impacts decisions to persist is crucial if capabilities to succeed are to be achieved, and entrepreneurship education would benefit from taking a more experimental, trial-based approach strengthened by a growth mindset.

For us teachers, that implies that our role is greater than what a “nature” based perspective on education would allow. Teaching and learning now have more than a dimension of giving students knowledge that they’ll turn into what they are already capable of turning it into (basically showing a student who already has a propensity to be good in Mathematics what calculus is). Education now becomes a quest for developing in students the skills, discipline and mindset needed for their successful learning paths. In less abstract terms, teaching is not reproducing knowledge, but also teaching how to acquire knowledge or how to start a practice (Seaton, 2017).

For entrepreneurship educators, that is translated into a competence development approach for how they educate their students. The intended outcome (entrepreneurial value-creating activity) has as its input the myriad of competencies developed in training for taking up the tasks and challenges associated with the entrepreneurial journey (Mawson & Simmons, 2023). As previous research showcases (Camuffo et al., 2020), entrepreneurs become comparatively more successful when failures are absorbed and used as a means for diagnosing what needs to be changed. Entrepreneurs, much like academics and students, are working in a trial-and-error environment where what is important is not to immediately succeed. Immediate success, although desirable, does not let the entrepreneur (or student) learn how to adapt to unforeseen changes and failures.

For educators in general, the situation is not that much different. We need to show our students that they can be more than what their current limits impose on them, and that is where a growth mindset intervention comes into play. Mathematics, entrepreneurship, and acting, should not be inherently reserved for those who showcased these skills from the outset. Students can grow into those roles by using failure as a form of diagnosis for future learning. One of the ways to do such is to realize such interventions in the classroom entails using coursework as a way of showcasing how students may change their own self-efficacy (as their self-perceived ability to achieve a goal or complete a task). Here are general principles for growth-mindset interventions:
1. Use assignments at a greater frequency to assess progress and give early feedback (Ex: Weekly mini-tests come into play here).
1. When providing feedback, not only say what was wrong but provide a clear blueprint of what the student can do to correct previous mistakes (Ex: When delivering a corrected test to the student, consider handling it with a note on his strengths and weaknesses, and what you would like him to study to avoid the same mistakes on the next test).
1. Emphasize how past failure can be traded for future success through persistent trials. (Ex: Cumulative tests can be useful here, where knowledge from one assignment builds into the next one).
They can be seen as practical cues for teaching students, likely entrepreneurs or not. In education, science or business, failures may be seen as negative feedback in the short-run, but can be used as a tool for positive improvement in the long-run. Students and entrepreneurs with a growth mindset do not see failure as a simple one-time event that signals the need to pivot away from the subject, topic or field. Instead, a growth mindset enables them to interpret failure as a learning cue that showcases the need to change their strategies, reassess their assumptions and reallocate their efforts to try again. Mathematics, entrepreneurship, and acting, should not be inherently reserved for those who showcased these skills from the outset, and fear from failure should not stop someone from trying. Once again, it is to be emphasized that students can grow into those roles through persistent (but directed) effort, and we better help them try, for how many might-have-beens could have been realized, if not for a lack of a growth mindset?

Luan Valério is a PhD Student in Entrepreneurship at Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business in Texas, having previously obtained a BA in Economics back in his home country, Brazil. His research interests encompass strategic entrepreneurship, decision-making under uncertainty and entrepreneurial education.

References

Camuffo, A., Cordova, A., Gambardella, A., Spina, C. (2020). A Scientific Approach to Entrepreneurial Decision Making: Evidence from a Randomized Control Trial. Management Science, 66(2), 564-586.

Chaoszine Magazine. (2024). My Story As Metal Frontman #87: M.Shadows (Avenged Sevenfold). In: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpYgwdE82jo

Dweck, Carol. (2018) Mindsets: Developing Talent Through a Growth Mindset. Olympic Coach, 7, n.21.

Limeri, L.B., Carter, N.T., Choe, J. et al. (2020). Growing a growth mindset: characterizing how and why undergraduate students’ mindsets change. IJ STEM Ed 7, 35.

Yeager, D. S., & Dweck, C. S. (2020). What can be learned from growth mindset controversies? American Psychologist, 75(9), 1269–1284.

Burnette, J. L., Pollack, J. M., Forsyth, R. B., Hoyt, C. L., Babij, A. D., Thomas, F. N., & Coy, A. E. (2020). A Growth Mindset Intervention: Enhancing Students’ Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy and Career Development. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 44(5), 878- 908.

Klein, Peter G. & Bullock, J. Bruce, (2006). “Can Entrepreneurship Be Taught?,” Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 38(2), pages 1-11.

Klein, Peter G. & Bylund, Per. (2014). The Place of Austrian Economics in Contemporary Entrepreneurship Research. Review of Austrian Economics, 27, 259-279.

Mises, Ludwig Von. (1949). Human Action: A Treatise on Economics. The Ludwig Von Mises Institute.

Mawson, S., Casulli, L., & Simmons, E. L. (2023). A Competence Development Approach for Entrepreneurial Mindset in Entrepreneurship Education. Entrepreneurship Education and Pedagogy, 6(3), 481-501.

Seaton, F. S. (2017). Empowering teachers to implement a growth mindset. Educational Psychology in Practice, 34(1), 41–57.
Source link
April 4, 2025
Assume the Best: Trust-Based Strategies for Empowering College Students – Faculty Focus
Creating a trust-based classroom begins with an essential mindset: students are doing their best. When we approach teaching from this perspective, we move away from punitive measures, fear-based management, and skepticism about students’ honesty. Instead, we foster an environment of learning, growth, and empowerment. Trusting students does not mean ignoring accountability; it means designing courses, policies, and practices that build their confidence and skills while treating them as equal partners in their education.

Course Design: Scaffold, Support, and Empower

A well-designed course sets the stage for trust by providing clarity, flexibility, and opportunities for growth.
- Transparent policies: Clearly outline expectations while building flexibility. For instance, rigid attendance or late-work penalties can be replaced with policies such as “grace days,” where students can submit work late without penalty. Such policies demonstrate compassion and respect for the complexities of students’ lives (Nilson, 2016; Hammond, 2015).
- Scaffolded assignments: Break significant projects into smaller, more manageable parts, such as proposals, annotated bibliographies, and rough drafts, to reduce student anxiety and provide opportunities for meaningful feedback at each step, improving learning outcomes (Ambrose, 2010).
- Collaborative syllabus design: During the first class, engage students in setting community and classroom norms and goals. A co-created syllabus session fosters accountability and trust, as students feel ownership of the course structure (Cook-Sather et al., 2014).
Teaching example: In one of my recent courses, I included a “workshop day” for students to peer review each other’s drafts of case conceptualizations. This scaffolding helped students approach final projects with more confidence, and peer feedback enriched their understanding of the assignment and deepened engagement with the course materials.

Active Learning: From Fear to Engagement

Fear of failure can stifle creativity and learning. Active learning strategies help students take risks and engage deeply with material in a low-pressure environment.
- Low-stakes practice: Use frequent formative assessments such as polls, quizzes, games, or writing and discussion prompts to reinforce and retrieve essential concepts. These activities encourage participation without the anxiety of high-stakes grading (Freeman et al., 2014; Agarwal, 2019).
- Normalize mistakes to promote growth: Frame errors as essential steps in the learning process. For example, during group problem-solving, ask students to identify and reflect on common mistakes, transforming failure into an opportunity for growth (Dweck, 2006).
What to avoid: Grading active learning activities as if they were summative assessments is inappropriate. Students should feel safe to experiment without fear of punishment or penalty.

Class Participation: Meeting Students Where They Are

Participation policies can often feel punitive, especially for students who struggle with anxiety, barriers to verbal and social engagement, and students with accommodations due to neurodiversity. Trust-based strategies offer multiple pathways for meaningful contribution and connection.
- Flexible participation options: Allow students to choose how they engage, including online discussion boards, written reflections, video reflections, or in-class individual or group work. Recognizing diverse participation and communication styles builds inclusivity and reduces the pressure to perform in a single, narrow way (Gay, 2018; Dweck, 2006).
- Student-led discussions: Rotate leadership roles for class discussions, allowing students to take ownership of their learning with their peers. Provide guidance and resources to ensure they feel confident in this role.
Teaching example: One student-led discussion in my class led to unexpected insights when a quieter student shared their expertise on a niche topic that another student was interested in. This reinforced how trust in students can bring out hidden strengths and foster the courage to share in a positive classroom climate.

Grading and Feedback: Support and Guide, Don’t Punish and Penalize

Grading practices should reflect the belief that students can grow and improve. Penalizing mistakes undermines trust and discourages effort. Instead, focus on feedback that builds skills, enriches learning, and deepens understanding.
- Revise and resubmit: Allow students to revise and resubmit work for a higher grade and additional feedback. This approach emphasizes learning over performance, encourages students to take risks in their initial attempts, and reduces fear and anxiety over grades.
- Rubrics as roadmaps: Use detailed and intentional rubrics, not just to grade but as tools to teach students what quality work looks like and what to aspire to in their work. Share rubrics in advance, collaborate with students to create or adjust rubrics, and encourage students to self-assess before submitting assignments (Brookhart, 2013).
- Feedback as an opportunity for dialogue: Invite students to meet to discuss feedback and revisions. These conversations deepen their understanding and demonstrate your investment in their success.
Teaching with Technology: Empower and Encourage, Don’t Police and Instill Fear

Technology tools like plagiarism detectors and AI checkers can erode trust if used as punitive measures. Instead, these tools should guide and empower students. Hutson (2024) identifies the challenges of AI in education as the blurred boundaries between human and AI-generated content, the inadequacy of traditional plagiarism definitions, and the need to balance the ethical integration of AI with the preservation of critical thinking, originality, and intellectual property standards.

Educators should teach students about proper citation practices and academic integrity while allowing space for mistakes as part of the learning process. Replace accusatory language in syllabi with language that supports student learning. For instance, providing workshops on academic writing and citation or encouraging dialogue about the ethical use of AI tools fosters a supportive learning environment rather than punitive. Hutson (2024) emphasizes the importance of adapting pedagogical approaches and institutional policies to address the evolving challenges of plagiarism in the era of generative AI while upholding the core values of academic integrity and honesty.

A 2023 study highlights the ethical and practical challenges associated with AI detectors, such as inaccuracies in identifying student-generated content and the unintended reinforcement of a guilty until proven innocent narrative (Ifelebuegu et al., 2023). Such practices can lead to mistrust between students and faculty, harming the educational relationship. Additionally, reliance on these tools may discourage students from taking risks in their learning for fear of being wrongly accused of dishonesty (Ifelebuegu et al., 2023). 

Assuming the best about students transforms the classroom from a place of fear and performance to one of trust and growth. By designing courses that scaffold learning, encouraging participation in diverse ways, and using grading and feedback as tools for improvement rather than punishment, faculty create environments where students feel empowered to take risks and grow. Trust is not a passive belief—it’s an active choice to see students as capable, honest, and deserving of our support. What changes will you make to assume the best about your students?

Mindith R. Rahmat, PsyD, is a core faculty member at Antioch University, where she specializes in compassion-focused pedagogy, trauma-sensitive mindfulness, and mindful self-compassion. With over 25 years of experience teaching yoga, meditation, and holistic wellness practices, she integrates these methodologies into her classroom, fostering equitable, intentional learning environments that promote well-being, resilience, and flourishing.

References

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Ambrose, S. A. (2010). How learning works: Seven research-based principles for smart teaching. John Wiley & Sons.

Brookhart, S. M. (2013). How to create and use rubrics for formative assessment and grading. ASCD.

Cook-Sather, A., Bovill, C., & Felten, P. (2014). Engaging students as partners in learning and teaching: A guide for faculty. John Wiley & Sons.

Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. Random House.

Freeman, S., Eddy, S. L., McDonough, M., Smith, M. K., Okoroafor, N., Jordt, H., & Wenderoth, M. P. (2014). Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics. Proceedings of the national academy of sciences, 111(23), 8410–8415.

Gay, G. (2018). Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research, and practice (3rd ed.). Teachers College Press.

Hammond, Z. (2015). Culturally responsive teaching and the brain: Promoting authentic engagement and rigor among culturally and linguistically diverse students. Corwin Press.

Hutson, J. (2024). Rethinking Plagiarism in the Era of Generative AI. Journal of Intelligent Communication, 3(2), 20–31.

Nilson, L. B. (2016). Teaching at its best: A research-based resource for college instructors. John Wiley & Sons.

Ifelebuegu, A. O., Kulume, P., & Cherukut, P. (2023). Chatbots and AI in Education (AIEd) tools: The good, the bad, and the ugly. Journal of Applied Learning and Teaching, 6(2).
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January 22, 2025