EDP 382C · Department of Educational Psychology · UT Austin
Assistant Professor, Educational Psychology · Postdoc at Stanford (Dweck Lab) · NRF Fellow Singapore · Research: strategic mindsets, self-regulation, wise intervention design
Course Overview
Advanced dive into social psychological interventions — growth mindset, belonging, self-affirmation, norms, and metacognitive self-regulation. Theory-building meets intervention design: how brief, precise psychological shifts produce lasting changes in learning, health, and well-being.
Growth mindset + stress reappraisal as scaffolds for persistence
Beliefs shape physiology — mindset-body connection
Social belonging interventions + seed-and-soil model
Strategic mindset + metacognitive self-regulation
Weekly Discussions & Feedback
Yeager et al. (2019) · Hecht et al. (2024) · Schleider & Weisz (2018)
Key Argument
The intervention didn't just change how students felt about difficulty — it changed what difficulty meant within the course's evaluative structure. Fadeout effects may reflect a mismatch between the intervention's message and the institution's actual incentive structure, not motivational decay.
Original contribution: If failure carries asymmetric penalties, avoiding challenges may be entirely rational — even for students who sincerely endorse a growth mindset. "Reducing the cost of failure" may be a distinct lever from "supportive context."
Crum & Langer (2007) · Crum et al. (2023) · Deval et al. (2013)
Key Argument
Belief change involves increasing the accessibility of one interpretation rather than correcting a misunderstanding. Crum's mindset interventions alter participants' epistemic stance — promoting flexibility in holding beliefs, agency in selecting beliefs based on effects, and intentionality rather than passive acceptance.
Original contribution: Identical milkshakes elicit different ghrelin responses depending on framing. Beliefs function less as static representations of reality and more as filters that shape downstream physiological processes.
Walton & Cohen (2011) · Walton et al. (2023) · Research Presentation
Research Presentation + Handout
Presented Walton et al. (2023) — "Where and With Whom Does a Brief Social-Belonging Intervention Promote Progress in College?" to class. Created a two-page analytical handout covering the seed-and-soil model, local-identity groups (K=374), and the three-way interaction (Condition × Historic Achievement × Belonging Affordances).
Key Finding: Walton et al. (2023)
N = 26,911 students across 22 institutions. The intervention increased first-year completion for students in LIGs with medium-to-high belonging affordances and low/medium historic achievement (+2.0 pp, +1.3 pp), but showed no effect where belonging was not afforded — confirming the seed-and-soil model.
Discussion Q (mine): This paper treats belonging as something the institution affords. But what about populations where belonging concerns are culturally embedded — where self-silencing is the norm, not an institutional failure? Does the seed-and-soil metaphor break down?
Aronson (1999) · Yeager et al. (2016) · Design Thinking for Wise Interventions
Leading the intervention walk-through and class discussion. Preparing 2 discussion questions + facilitating 15–20 min intervention experience + 10–15 min discussion.
Full Semester Timeline
Week 1 · Jan 12
Introduction to the Course
Week 3 · Jan 26
Intro to Social Psychological Interventions
Walton & Wilson (2018) · Yeager & Walton (2011)
Week 4 · Feb 2 — ★ Featured
Growth Mindset Theory & Interventions
Guest: Prof David Yeager · Weekly Discussion ★
Week 5 · Feb 9 — ★ Featured
Other Kinds of Belief-Change Interventions
Crum, Deval · Weekly Discussion ★
Week 6 · Feb 16 — ★ Presented
Social-Belonging Theory & Intervention
Guest: Prof Gregory Walton · Research Presentation + Handout
Week 7 · Feb 23 — ★ Intervention Sharing
Self-Persuasion & Refining Design
Aronson (1999) · Yeager et al. (2016) · My Lead
Week 8 · Mar 2
Metacognitive Self-Regulation
Guest: Dr. Patricia Chen · Strategic Resource Use
Week 9 · Mar 9
Attention Training & Mindfulness
Guest: Dr. Alissa Mrazek · Finding Focus
Weeks 11–14
Relationships · Norms · Self-Related Interventions
Intervention development feedback cycles
Week 16 · Apr 27
Final Project Presentation
Design + present a wise intervention for a real-world issue
Why This Course Matters for My Research
My thesis examines culturally embedded communication patterns among Korean American midlife women — specifically self-silencing and help-seeking behaviors. EDP 382C provides the intervention design toolkit to translate these findings into action:
Yeager → Growth mindset as scaffold: reframing help-seeking from weakness to strength
Crum → Stress mindset: culturally specific stressors (multiple role strain) as potential growth catalysts
Walton → Belonging affordances: when cultural norms of self-silencing mean the "soil" needs different preparation
Chen → Strategic mindset: metacognitive self-regulation for populations navigating unfamiliar systems
Bella Kang · MA Advertising (Thesis Track) · Moody College, UT Austin
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"You ask a great question about whether the barrier to enactment is structural or social. Let's discuss this in class! As you pointed out, determining which is the barrier may give rise to different approaches to the intervention design."
"Overall, incredible points and summary! Keep up the thoughtfulness and great effort at connecting the ideas across readings and beyond."