A classic way of measuring academic success is by looking at ‘smartness.’ But there’s a justified worry that focussing too much on ‘smartness’ might be exclusionary and fail to do justice to students who are disadvantaged and who do not fit the ‘classic’ model of a ‘smart student.’

In response, some adopt ‘grit’ as an alternate means of assessing academic success. The assessment of ‘grit’ plays a role in personal narratives: she’s tenacious; he has overcome severe obstacles; they have impressive stick-to-it-ness. It also plays a role in admissions decisions, funding allocation, scholarship awards, and so on. There are scholarships which explicitly target ‘grittiness,’ such as this Dell Scholarship:

‘… the Dell Scholars program targets low-income, highly motivated students who are better than their numbers indicate and demonstrate the drive to succeed despite personal obstacles. The ideal candidate will demonstrate a unique "GPA" of grit, potential, and ambition in their quest for a college education’

In this session, I explore the relationship between grit and smartness, asking: Is grit an alternative measure of smartness or an independent way of assessing academic success? Is grit especially useful in assessing academic success in disadvantaged students? In answer, I will suggest that the notion of grit further stacks the deck against disadvantaged students.

Time and again, I find myself in conversations with colleagues who care deeply about our students’ well-being, and we notice a stark decline since the pandemic. We struggle with how we can keep students engaged and genuinely successful in our classes. I find helping students especially challenging with “harder” material and subjects. Students seem to feel like they don’t have a sense of belongingness, and a genuine purpose at college. Instead, I notice they treat classes like a “checklist” to get through and move on. Consistent with psychological research, these feelings are especially acute among students who already faced additional stressors before the pandemic (e.g., PoC; first-generation). I’ll share relevant psychological research (e.g., resilience, post-traumatic growth, antifragility, growth mindset, motivation) to help inform us as we work to support our students. I’ll share personal anecdotes about approaches I’ve tried, with varying success and failure. I’ll share personal anecdotes of my experiences as a student too; Especially when rigorous classes invited me to push myself further and when they eroded away any intrinsic motivation I had. I hope other faculty will share their ideas and attempts too, helping spark each of us when we return to our classrooms.

Interactive multimedia adds a deeper layer of learning by engaging the student through interactivity, sight, sound, and instant feedback. Studies have shown that active-learning pedagogies, such as interactive multimedia, have shown superior learning achievements as compared with traditional lecture-based pedagogies (1,2). We have been creating interactive multimedia learning objects (MLOs) to help students understand topics that have been difficult to understand through traditional teaching methods. Faculty have stated that students have had better success after engaging with MLOs. Additionally, our analytics have shown our MLOs being used with no cultural barriers worldwide from Los Angeles to Chile to the Philippines, Bangladesh, UK, and all over the world.

Our MLOs are developed in consultation with faculty and are designed to be accessible; They undergo accessibility reviews through Cal Poly Pomona's Accessible Technology Initiative (ATI) office, and have to be approved before going live. They are a collaboration between Faculty, Instructional Designers, and Multimedia Developers.

References:
1. R Hake, Interactive-engagement versus traditional methods: A six-thousand-student survey of mechanics test data for introductory physics courses. Amer J Phys 66, (1998)
2. S Freeman, et al., Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 111, (2014).