Mindset

What is necessary to be an effective learner? Students and faculty often focus on the Cognitive and Psycho-Motor, depending on the area of study, but there is not enough attention paid to the affective (“The student attitude toward learning”).

Take the next 10 minutes to do some reflective writing about your attitude towards learning? This is meant to be pretty open-ended, but just keep students writing. Emphasize there is no judgment on their feelings or attitudes. The exercise is just to be a starting point.

What is Mindset? “Mindsets are beliefs— beliefs about yourself and your most basic qualities. Think about your intelligence, your talents, your personality. Are these qualities simply fixed traits, carved in stone and that’s that? Or are they things you can cultivate throughout your life?” - Carol Dweck, http://mindsetonline.com/whatisit/themindsets/index.html

Thinking about MINDSET as a spectrum Fixed Mindset Growth Mindset Key to emphasize the “spectrum” aspect of Mindset—i.e. mindset is always in motion, different in different parts of our lives, and can be changed.

What does your writing say about your MINDSET?? Have students share statements from their writing and plot them on a spectrum on the whiteboard. Collect first, then talk about how certain statements could be flipped in a positive or negative fashion: “I never do well on my homework” [fixed]  “I have difficulty with homework when…” [growth]. Each person has to share at least one statement. If sharing is a problem, we can try having people write down a statement on card, collect, and write on board anonymously.

How can you improve your MINDSET? Learning self-talk about succeeding Thinking of difficulties encountered as reflecting wrong strategy, not lack of talent Thinking of goals and setbacks as challenges, not failures Recalling past successes Hearing stories of how other people have succeeded (e.g., movies, tapes, books) Cultivating friends with whom you can talk about goals Finding role modes that you can emulate (everyday heroes are closer than you think) Exercising physically (relearning that the body and mind are connected) Eating properly (remembering that you need fuel) Resting adequately (recharging for the next active goal- directed output) Laughing at oneself (especially when stuck) Re-goaling (persistence in the face of absolute goal blockage deflates agency and pathways) Rewarding oneself for small sub-goal attainments on the way to larger, long-term goals Educating oneself for specific skills, as well as learning how to learn Learn to hear your fixed voice mindset Recognize that you have a choice Talk back to it with your growth mindset voice. Take the growth mindset action Fixed Mindset Growth Mindset Have students identify certain actions that they will try to put into practice. Emphasize that even modest starting points to lead to significant change. Have them plot their starting point on the spectrum before the session is over. Snyder (1996), qtd. in http://www.semo.edu/ustudies/images/StuTrans_Pattengale_HopeScale_2009.pdf and Carol Dweck from http://mindsetonline.com/changeyourmindset/firststeps/index.html