A Growth Mindset CS TA Orientation Fall 2015

How many of you know your IQ score? Hands?

How many of you think that your IQ score cannot be improved, that it is static, that it is just ‘how you are’? How many of you think that you can improve your IQ by working at it, by studying, by practice?

Everyone has a “mindset” “An established set of attitudes” affects how you see the world Can be divided into two kinds “Fixed” or “static” mindset “Growth” mindset

A Growth Mindset person believes they can get smarter by trying hard takes failure as an opportunity to learn knows that good results take effort knows that persistence matters A Fixed Mindset person believes they are as smart as they are ever going to get takes failure as a personal affront does not want to try new tasks for fear they will fail and ‘look dumb’ thinks that good results come “naturally” gives up quickly if they can’t do something

Teachers can change mind sets! What do we say to them? Keep trying! Persist! Look at it from a different angle. Co-operate. Feedback on their work DO give positive feedback on the process they went through to get the results DO give positive feedback on the amount of effort they put in You didn’t give up even when you were stuck! DO NOT give feedback based on how smart they are DO NOT give feedback based on how easy it was for them

What do you say when… They say “I can’t do this!” You say “YET!!”

From

Mindset affects behavior Which mindset is more likely to cheat? Which mindset is more likely to compare their performance to others who did worse?

References Current interest raised by Dr. Carol Dweck, psychologist at Stanford Univ. Book published in 2000 about Mindsets and some research she has done