Growth Mindset: Making it work for you and your students James Stevens Front Range Community College james.stevens@frontrange.edu

With practice, training, and above all, method, we manage to increase our attention, our memory, our judgment and literally to become more intelligent than we were before. Alfret Binet, inventor of the IQ test

Reflection Think of a time when you were learning something new… and it didn’t start so well.

Reflection How did you go about learning? What feelings did you have? What did your inner monologue say? Were other people involved? What did you learn about yourself? Share your experience.

Mindset A belief about oneself and one’s basic qualities Our brain is constantly processing and interpreting the events happening to and around us This interpretation process is filtered through your mindset

Fixed Mindset (entity theory of intelligence) Intelligence is predetermined, fixed, finite Focus on performance, outcomes  value grades Desire to look smart Effort is negative, fruitless (low effort syndrome) Avoid challenges Give up easily, sense of helplessness Ignore criticism Threatened by success of others Internal monologue is centered on judging

Growth Mindset (incremental theory of intelligence) Intelligence can be developed through dedication to hard work (effort), effective strategies, help from others Value learning and mastery Effort is the path to mastery Embrace challenges Persistence and resilience Accept and learn from criticism Lessons and inspiration from success of others

Research Highlights Growth mindset training can increase test scores (Blackwell et al., 2007; Yeager and Dweck, 2012; Good, Aronson, & Inzlicht, 2003).

Praise for intelligence can undermine children's motivation and performance. (Mueller and Dweck 1998; Zentall and Morris, 2010)

Teaching a growth mindset seems to decrease or even close achievement gaps. (Aronson et al., 2002; Blackwell et al., 2007; Good et al., 2003).

Comfort praise demotivates students

Steps to a Growth Mindset Learn Learn to hear your fixed mindset voice Recognize Recognize that you have a choice Talk back Talk back to it with a growth mindset voice Take Take the growth mindset action

Common pitfalls Praising effort alone Praise process Telling students to try harder Strategize and enlist help from others Preaching growth mindset but still using fixed teaching methods (false growth mindset) Revision Quiz to mastery Ignoring fixed mindset triggers

Best Growth Mindset Educator Practices Set high expectations and challenge students Create a risk-tolerant learning zone Provide process-oriented feedback Introduce students to the idea of the malleable brain Effort New strategies Help from others Harness your students’ growth mindedness Share your story

Intelligence and Genes “Smarty-pants have 40 new reasons to thank their parents for their powerful brains.”

Just because some people can do something with little or no training, it doesn't mean that others can't do it (and sometimes do it even better) with training. Carol Dweck Ph.D.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis The greats weren't great because at birth they could paint. The greats were great because they paint a lot. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Ten Thousand Hours

Resources Youtube – Carol Dweck The Power of Yet Test your mindset: www.mindsetonline.com/testyourmindset Test your students’ mindset: https://survey.perts.net/share/toi Khan Academy Growth Mindset Lesson Plan: https://s3.amazonaws.com/KA-share/Toolkit- photos/FINAL+Growth+Mindset+Lesson+Plan.pdf