Growth Mindset

Before joining this course I had not heard about Carol Dweck or the growth mindset before. Therefore, it was a very new topic to me. I liked what Dweck had to say and I agree with her. I think students are getting more praise for getting the correct answer than the process leading up to the correct answer. Sometimes, students can easily find the answer online or get it from a friend. The challenge and road to getting to the answer is far more important because it helps to truly know how to do something and can lead to more creative thinking. When we start praising students for working through a tough problem instead of just seeing that they got the correct answer, that's when we're really leading them to achieve more. In high school, I felt like this issue was the case, too. Certain assignments seemed too easy to do. It felt like students were given just the very basics of how to do specific problems and then before you know it, it was on to the next subject.

Coming to college was a wake-up call for me. Here, I believe I have more of a growth mindset than I ever did before. With mostly all of my classes, in order to succeed, I know I have to honestly try at the subject. I have to sit down and do a lot of practice problems that weren't assigned to me. This method has helped me tremendously. Doing the practice problems switches on a light bulb for me in such a way that I really understand how to do something, why I'm doing it, and how it relates to a number of other things. I reward myself for working through a challenge more than I do for the final product.

Every semester I try to go in with a more determined mindset than the semester before, so I'm ecstatic to learn more about the growth mindset and how it can help me in some of my other difficult classes. I feel like it's sort of a recipe for success in more ways than one. I hope this tool will also help me stay more on top of things and not get behind! :-)

"I drive my own learning"
Source: Growth Mindset Memes