Mindset: The Psychology of Learning and Achievement
Script to support powerpoint presentation for use with young people (secondary school pupils and students)
Introductory note
We have not numbered the slides so that you can remove slides if you wish and still be able to use the script. We have identified where there is a 'Potential Discussion Point'. These are slides (and on occasions, suggested exercises) which you can use to involve the audience in discussion/activities. You can easily remove these slides if you simply want to present the material without discussion. Or you can move these slides to the end of the presentation and use them later. We have split the presentation into modules but you can easily remove these if you like and make it into one seamless presentation.
Module 1
Slide: Module 1: Mindsets
Introduces the title of this module: Mindset
Slide: Born Smart…?
Introduces a key question at the heart of the mindset discussion: ‘are people born smart?’ The mindset theory challenges this question. This question should get your audience thinking about what they believe about this issue.
Slide: What we’ll be looking at…
Continues with questioning ‘are people born smart?’ On this slide there are four questions directly related to this question. The last question introduces the alternative argument ‘do talents, abilities and intelligence grow from experience?’
Slide: Importance of development
This slide follows on from the last question in the last slide, by introducing the idea that people grow and develop.
Slide: So are we born…
This slide asks the audience to think about whether people are born good at maths or acting and so on.
Slides: Was Einstein born… through to Was Justin born…
These slides are of famous people who we know to have been very successful. They continue with the same type of questioning as before e.g. ‘was Einstein born a genius’?
Slide: What can we learn about learning from animals?
This slide introduces the question ‘how can science begin to answer whether people are born smart or not’? During this presentation there will be a build up of scientific evidence. This slide begins the investigation by looking at studies which have been done with animals. This is because we can learn a lot about humans by studying the brains of animals.
Slide: Ratty intellect…
This slide details an experiment which has been carried out with rats. This research studied the effect of the environment on the rats’ brains. In this study two groups of rats were put in one of two environments: boring or stimulating.
Slide: Rat results
Those in the stimulating environment did better on ‘ratty intelligence tests’ (finding their way in a maze) and had heavier brains that those in the boring environment. What this shows is that doing things has an effect on the brain and behaviour. Even very old rats improved.
Slide: What do you think? Potential discussion point
This slide brings us back to the question ‘Are our abilities determined from birth’? You could ask the audience, or get a discussion going, about whether they think that tests such as IQ tests measure something stable, and whether people can predict what someone else will do based on these tests?
Slide: People have increased their IQ…
Over the last 50 years people’s IQ has risen, by around 30 points. The environment is full of many more opportunities for different experiences. Just like the rat in the exciting cage, humans have got more intelligent.
Slide: Two beliefs about intelligence…
This cartoon introduces Carol Dweck’s theory to the audience. In simple terms Carol Dweck says that there are two beliefs about intelligence: fixed vs. growth. These are belief systems which shape how people view ability. People adopting a fixed belief think that intelligence is carved in stone: something stable and unchangeable. Individuals adopting a growth mindset believe that intelligence is malleable e.g. people can get better at things. One mindset allows ALL people to grow and develop (growth) and the other doesn’t (fixed).
Slide: Fixed mindset
This slide summarises fixed mindset beliefs. People holding these beliefs think that intelligent people should not have to work hard – it should come naturally. They also believe that you can measure potential. For example, IQ tests or exams measure something permanent about the person. Because the person with a fixed mindset doesn’t believe in the ability to grow and develop they often don’t stretch themselves and do not value effort.
Slide: Growth mindset
This slide sets out the growth mindset. People adopting a growth mindset believe that intelligence is malleable. People endorsing a growth mindset believe that learning requires hard work and effort and that people’s potential cannot be measured. For example: receiving an ‘A’ in a test only means that I worked hard and used the correct strategies. These people believe that ALL individuals learn and grow. Because they believe in their own and other people’s potential they tend to give constructive feedback to help others learn.
Slide: Thinking about mindset
This slide contains some points you can make to the students about what we have learnt about the mindsets so far. People can begin to NOTICE and observe the mindset they adopt. This means that people can CHOOSE to adopt a growth mindset.
Module 2
Slide: Module 2: The brain
Slide: Facts about the brain…
This slide contains some facts about the brain. This will introduce students to the brain and what it does.
Slide: (Picture of the brain)
This slide introduces the main areas of the brain: frontal, parietal, occipital and temporal lobes. Each lobe helps us to carry out specific functions e.g. to see, hear, feel and so on. For each of the areas discussed we have a right and a left lobe which are joined together by a bundle of nerves. The next four slides give some detail about what each of the four lobes help us do.
Slide: The frontal lobe…
This slide gives some facts about the frontal lobes. The frontal lobes are the most recently evolved area of the brain. They deal with higher cognitive functions such as reasoning, planning and speech. They are also involved with processing emotions and movements.
Slide: The parietal lobe…
The parietal lobes are less well understood than the other lobes. Despite this, we know that this lobe is concerned with touch, pressure, temperature and pain.
Slide: The temporal lobe…
This slide gives some facts about the temporal lobes. The temporal lobes are concerned with sound and hearing. When we hear a sound, the auditory cortex in the temporal lobe, processes that information. The temporal lobes also deal with memory.
Slide: The occipital lobe…
The occipital lobe is used for seeing. If part of this area is damaged a person loses the ability to process what they see.
Slide: All of the lobes and all their functions…
This slide rounds up why we have talked at length about the brain. All of these areas help us to do things in the world like playing instruments or riding bikes. It allows us to plan and reason. It also allows us to remember things.
Slide: Homunculus
This slide introduces a specific area in our brain. This area represents the parts of our bodies we use when we move. It is called the motor cortex and is located in the frontal lobes. There is also a part of our brain which represents the things we feel. This is called the somatosensory cortex (located in the parietal lobe). The picture on this slide shows the motor cortex. As you can see the tummy and the back are very small. This is because we don’t use them very often. In this model the hands are very big and so is the mouth. This is because we use them more often (think of a baby who explores his/her world with the mouth). Our model of sensory function shows how hands and mouth are very sensitive.
Slide: Brain space…
This slide shows a slice of the brain, which contains the motor cortex. This image demonstrates that the body does not occupy an equal amount of the brain. For example, the hand occupies much more than the arm. This is because we use our hands more often than our arms. These areas get bigger the more we use them. For example, a musician will have a bigger area which represents the fingers.
Slide: Sound centre
This slide follows on from the last point made in the previous slide. Brain imaging studies have shown that playing music makes the auditory centres of the brain grow. Musicians have a bigger auditory cortex than non-musicians.
Slide: Neurons
This slide illustrates how the brain DOES grow. For example, when we think a thought, talk to someone or practice an instrument our brain communicates this message. It does this through tiny cells called neurons, of which we have around 100 billion. Neurons are made of an axon and a dendrite. The messages arrive via the dendrites and leave via the axon. The message is then passed through a gap between two neurons to another dendrite. This process is known as synaptic transmission. The main message on this slide is that cells communicate information to each other when we do things, feel things and see things.
Slide: Neurons pass information through connections…
This slide shows how the cells communicate to each other: from the axon to the dendrites, via a small gap between the cells – called a synapse.
Slide: Learning helps our neurons grow…
This slide shows that when we learn things, this happens through neurons communicating with one another.
Slide: People with large auditory…
This slide talks more specifically about how learning an instrument can actually increase the size of that area of the brain, by making lots of connections.
Slide: What about your brain? Potential discussion point
This slide asks the audience to reflect on their learning and to imagine the connections they make as they learn, and to identify what they would like to learn more of.
Module 3
Slide: Module 3: ‘Fail your way to success’
Title slide for module 3.
Slides: Lance Armstrong through to Walt Disney…
These slides give examples of very successful people who have failed, and overcome the failure. This is important because Carol Dweck’s work suggests that people can learn to adopt a growth mindset through exposure to role models.
Slide: Different ways people view failure
This slide encourages the audience to think about how people fail. It then answers the question with views from both growth and fixed mindset. People endorsing a growth mindset value learning and see failure as a learning opportunity. People endorsing a fixed mindset view it as confirmation that they are not smart.
Slide: Why do people have different views of failure…
This slide specifically addresses the question ‘why do people have a different view of failure?’ by showing that people create different goals for their learning. Some (those with a growth mindset) create learning goals. People with learning goals value learning. This means that they see failure as part of the learning process. Others (those with a fixed mindset) create performance goals. People who hold performance goals value looking intelligent. They believe failure is not part of the learning process as it makes them look stupid.
Slide: Think of a time when you didn’t enjoy… Potential discussion point
This slide encourages students to reflect upon their own experience by looking at what goals they held at particular times. This encourages them to NOTICE their goals and subsequent behaviour. Sometimes we set goals which we are not even aware of. The idea here is to encourage them to think about how this might have got in the way of their success. This will then help them to think about what they might do next time.
Slide: Write down the benefits… Potential discussion point
This slide has an exercise which follows on from the last slide. It asks students to write down the benefits of adopting learning goals. You could use some collaborative learning techniques to encourage groups to discuss this and write down e.g. pair share http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/archive/cl1/cl/doingcl/thinkps.htm
Module 4
Slide: Module 4: ‘How people cope with failure’
Title slide for module 4.
Slide: Response to failure
In the last module we looked at people’s VIEW of failure: some people see it as a chance to learn and other see it as an opportunity to prove themselves. Which view depends upon which goal they set. This slide looks at how people COPE with failure. There are two responses to failure. The first leads some people to blame themselves, feel depressed and give up trying. The second response leads people to increase effort and motivation and keep going in the face of challenge.
Slide: Helpless response
This slide goes into more detail about the first response mentioned in the last slide. This is the helpless response. People displaying the helpless response may often be labelled ‘lazy’ because they appear to be unmotivated. However Carol Dweck has shown that people endorsing a fixed mindset will tend to display the ‘lazy’ characteristics. This is because they have a fixed view of their ability. They may say to themselves things such as ‘what’s the point?’, ‘I’ll never get it anyway’ or ‘I’m stupid’. These harsh statements make people feel depressed because they, erroneously, believe that there is nothing they can do in the face of failure. They are less likely to persevere and put effort in if they believe that they ‘can’t do it’, or ‘won’t get it’.