This is a reverse outline of my chosen source-based assignment for my english 100 class. The assignment was an academic mindset argument titled My Fixed Mindset. Here is also a link to the assignment sheet. I didn’t revise it all the way yet so here is the reverse outline of how my first draft was.
Thesis Statement: In this argument I'm going to tell you how having a fixed mindset most of the time has impacted me and how learning to think like I have a growth mindset has help me in my school career. Topic Sentences:
People have either a fixed mindset or a growth mindset. My argument is that I believe that my academic mindset which is fixed has impacted my abilities as a student to learn because fixed is when you think you're born smart but if you try you can grow as a learner and learn new things which is the growth mindset.
0 Comments
I worked by myself while composing my academic mindset draft. This wasn’t really a good approach but it was the only approach I could do. It’s always good to get another opinion on your work but there was no one there that I wanted to read it. I think the most difficult part of my writing process was really trying to figure out what mindset I had and picking out the quotes from the articles. What I did to overcome these obstacles was I had to take my time, think really hard, and keep re-reading the articles to find the best quotes I could use.
When I wrote this was first one day at school on my one hour break and I spent the whole hour writing and going over the articles. My goal was to get at least three hundred words done and I got a little over that. Then I finished it on Thursday after school. This wouldn’t be considered the best approach but I was sick a lot of the week so that was the best I could do. I wrote part of this project in the school library even though it wasn't quiet when it should have been and the other part at my house on my couch. I think the library was a good approach because that's usually a good place to do school work but my couch when my mom's home at night really isn’t. This is because she’ll have the television louder than necessary so I have to tell her to turn it down and to be quiet and put my headphones in with no music on so I can kind of zone everything out. Why I chose to write about my topic because this was the topic we were assigned. How I will adapt/revise my writing process for future revision of the academic mindset assignment is if I hopefully have off work once and awhile I will start working on the draft sooner than usually and I will try to clean my room so I can work on my papers in there because I haven’t been able to even walk in there or sit on my bed for months. My Fixed Mindset
In the University of Chicago study they say academic mindsets are beliefs, attitudes, or ways of perceiving oneself in relation to learning and intellectual work that support academic performance. There is a big debate between mindsets in education. A growth mindset is when someone can improve their academic performance by putting in the effort and not giving up when a task gets to hard. A fixed mindset is when a person only focuses on what they're good at. They don’t put in the effort and when it gets hard they give up. In the article Teachers, Parents Often Misuse Growth Mindset Research, Carol Dweck Says by The Hechinger Report it says that Dweck theorizes that parents' well-intentioned praise contributes to the formation of unproductive fixed-mindset thoughts. Having a growth mindset you are more likely to have a higher academic performance than someone with a fixed mindset. I believe that my academic mindset has impacted my abilities as a student to learn. I have a fixed mindset most of the time. There are some occasions where you have to change your mindset to do well. For example a specific course. Sometimes you're just not that good at that subject and you usually just give up, but if you need to pass you have to switch your mind set up. I remember one time I think senior year I had to take geometry. I was supposed to take this class like sophomore year but they just made me jump to algebra one a two first to I was always confused. When I got into that class most of the people were younger then me or already took this class and failed so I was behind. I had to switch my mindset up and put more effort into the math and not give up when it hard. I believe you can’t just be good at math you have to keep learning because there are so many equations and different ways to do things. In the article I read called The perils of “Growth Mindset” education: Why we’re trying to fix our kids when we should be fixing the system by Alfie Kohn he talks about how basically we should be fixing the education system not our kids, which I agree with. Kohn said even some people who are educators would rather convince students they need to adopt a more positive attitude than address the quality of the curriculum (what the students are being taught) or the pedagogy (how they’re being taught it). Which I agree with because I've had many teachers who were more concerned with my attitude and what I was wearing then what they needed to teach me. An awful lot of schooling still consists of making kids cram forgettable facts into short-term memory. Kohn also says that teacher-training sessions devoted to the wonders of adopting a growth mindset rarely bother to ask whether the curriculum is meaningful, whether the pedagogy is thoughtful, or whether the assessment of students’ learning is authentic (as opposed to defining success merely as higher scores on dreadful standardized tests). A Lot of educational environments either promote a growth or fixed mindset. In my educational experience I think they promoted a growth mindset. They would always teach me new things so I could learn. I had to adapt to the way they were teaching me and to the growth mindset they promoted. I think having an academic mindset has prevented me from overcoming some academic challenges. I never was good at talking in front of people and I just wasn’t food at it. So my mind was saying I’m not good at it so i’m just going to give up so I would do absolutely anything from having to speak in front of a class. Also when I had to read chapters in books that I wasn't interested in I would start to read, loose tract, and then give up. In college though I want to switch from a growth mindset to a fixed mindset. I want to do this because I believe it will help me in the future and to put more effort into the work I do. Even if i’m not interested in the topic i’m going to do my best. I will keep trying until i’m proud of my work and I will listen and keep learning new things everyday. In conclusion I have a fixed mindset which is when a person only focuses on what they're good at. They don’t put in the effort and when it gets hard they give up and growth mindset which is when someone can improve their academic performance by putting in the effort and not giving up when a task gets to hard. It has been a disadvantage to have this mindset but i’m trying to change it. The definition of academic mindsets is the beliefs, attitudes, or ways of perceiving oneself in relation to learning and intellectual work that support academic performance. There are four types of academic mindsets. They are I belong in this academic community, my ability and competence grow with my effort which in short is a Growth Mindset, I can succeed at this (Self-efficacy), and this work has value for me (Relevance/Purpose). While the belonging mindset has significant psychological benefits for students and makes them more likely to engage in productive academic behaviors I don’t think it’s the most important of the four. I think the most important mindset is my ability and competence grow with my effort which really just means a growth mindset. Even though having self efficacy and having value in your work and finding it relevant and interesting is all important in an academic environment I think having a growth mindset is most important. A growth mindset is someone who believe they can expand their academic ability by their own effort. Someone who has a growth mindset are more likely to work toward their goals, more self-motivating and persistent, and more likely to achieve a higher academic performance than someone with a fixed mindset. In opposite of growth mindset there is fixed mindset. Fixed mindset is when someone believes their academic ability is fixed and cannot be changed by their own efforts. These people are more likely to be focused on discerning the opinions of others as to their level of ability. They also just give up when there is an obstacle in the way. They don’t value effort but a person with a growth mindset does, and they also have a lower academic performance. If students have a poor performance to their lack of ability, they tend to withhold further effort when faced with a similar task, but if students attribute low performance to a lack of effort, they are more likely to increase effort on the next try.
In the article Teachers, Parents Often Misuse Growth Mindset Research, Carol Dweck Says by The Hechinger Report they talk about the theories and beliefs of Stanford University psychology professor Carol Dweck. In the article it says “Dweck believes too many students are hobbled by the belief that intelligence is a fixed trait.” She says it's harmful to tell your kids that they're smart because when they eventually do struggle in school, they might think they're not so smart after all. “Praising effort alone, she says, is useless when the child is getting everything wrong and not making progress. Instead, she advises teachers and parents to praise a child's process and strategies, and tie those to the outcome.” I also read the article The perils of “Growth Mindset” education: Why we’re trying to fix our kids when we should be fixing the system by Alfie Kohn. In the text he talks about in education these days kids tend to fare better when they think in a growth mindset where they can improve through effort but not through a fixed mindset. He disagrees with this statement he thinks the school systems are fixed. There are differences between a growth mindset and a fixed mindset. A growth mindset is where you have goals and you learn new things. You also value effort, you would work harder if you had a setback and your academic performance is higher. With a fixed mindset you just look smart, don’t value effort, you give up, and have a lower academic performance. I consider myself to have a growth mindset mostly but there are times occasionally where i’m thinking like I have a fixed mindset.
|
Sami VediscoArchives
December 2017
Categories
All
|