Student beliefs about intelligence: Relationship to learning

This study examined the relationship between engineering students´ beliefs about intelligence and their self-efficacy for learning course material, their perceived use of deep learning strategies such as collaboration and knowledge building behaviors, and their course grade. Our results showed that self-efficacy, perceived use of collaborative learning strategies, and adaptive personal beliefs about intelligence were predictive of students´ use of knowledge building behaviors. Intelligence beliefs were not predictive of course grade. These results contribute to the body of knowledge demonstrating the utility of these motivational concepts for understanding post secondary engineering students´ effort and achievement; our results also provide important direction for educators, demonstrating the need to support incremental views of intelligence among engineering students.