Growth mindset printables for STEM

A growth mindset is a way of viewing challenges and setbacks. People who have a growth mindset believe that with hard work, their skills can improve over time.

Having a growth mindset is important for students. It helps them face challenges and learn from mistakes. It’s essential for students who learn and think differently to have opportunities to practice a growth mindset. And STEM is the perfect place to practice this.

Why a growth mindset is important in STEM

STEM often involves finding solutions to problems. Having a growth mindset helps students stay motivated to work toward a solution. 

Setbacks and mistakes often lead to discoveries in STEM. Having a growth mindset helps students see unexpected results as chances to learn.

As an educator, you can support your students in using a growth mindset to persevere through STEM challenges. Help them focus on experimenting and learning from the results. Encourage students to ask themselves “What worked? What didn’t work? And how can I apply that learning to change the outcome?” 

The growth mindset printables below can help you encourage students to ask questions, reframe their thinking, and make a growth mindset plan.

15 growth mindset questions

Ask these questions to help students develop a growth mindset during STEM lessons. The questions can help students learn from the unexpected, develop new strategies, and persevere. 

Consider asking questions like “How will you challenge yourself?” at the start of a lesson. After a lesson, ask “Did you work as hard as you could have?” Students can also ask themselves or each other these questions.

You can send these questions home for families to use as conversation starters. They can help families talk about what students are learning in STEM. 

Get the growth mindset questions in Spanish. 

Why I can do this

Use this activity to help students persevere during STEM lessons. If students feel frustrated or overwhelmed, they can use these prompts to shift their mindset from “I can’t” to “I can try.” 

This activity helps students move through challenges and learn through the process. 

Get the “Why I can do this” download in Spanish. 

Growth mindset action plan

So much of STEM is learning through making mistakes. This action plan helps students persevere when a STEM activity doesn’t work out as planned. It can help them understand that they might learn more from what didn’t go as planned than what did. 

Have students fill out this plan after completing a STEM activity, like a lab experiment or an engineering design challenge. Encourage them to reflect and take note of what worked and what didn’t work. 

Get the growth mindset action plan in Spanish. 

Next steps

Remember that building a growth mindset — like STEM — is an ongoing process. Start by using growth mindset language and discussions in your lessons. Then, explore other ways to help your students develop a growth mindset. 

• Learn more about growth mindset in this episode of Understood’s Opportunity Gap podcast.

• Help your students recognize their strengths with a strengths chain.