Growth Mindset

Growth Mindset

Maybe I can develop confidence in this crazy system we call academics

(Learning Zone from Growth Mindset memes blog)

After watching the videos of Carol Dweck, it really got me thinking about how I view my worth because of how I am evaluated as a student. I understand the concept of being tested on skills so that if you were to use that skill in the real world, there's confidence behind your abilities. If I was to interact with a doctor or an electrician then I'd want to be comfortable knowing that they know exactly how to do their job. Those things are nice to have since we live in a world where doubt lives in even the smallest of places.

Dweck got me thinking about the moments in life where I would be more focused on what I was doing instead of just getting to the "perfect" outcome that was expected of me. I've taken many courses at this university that have broken my confidence when my marks end up being below average or not what I've come to define as "acceptable" regardless of how comfortable I feel with the material at hand. As a senior in her final semester, my capstone and the rest of my upper division science course have me horrified just by looking at the syllabus alone. I love and have great interests for the topics at hand, so why am I so scared? Why is learning about what I want to gain more knowledge in so scary? Is it the percentages that each task I'm expected to complete are weighted by that freak me out so much? So many questions that go into why my mood instantly shifts during syllabus week.

I want to take these Growth Mindset ideals and methods and use them towards the things I'm afraid of. Hopefully my love for my course topics won't be drowned out by the fear in failure based on one, maybe two assignments. I like that this concept focuses on both progression and effort which is what instructors desire out of their students, right? My evaluation can be a true view of the effort that I know I can apply to my tasks.