What did I write out about? "The Power of Believing You Can Improve", a TED Talk by Carol Dweck. Find it here!
Q1: What is the author's main claim? A1: Dweck's main claim is that students with a growth-mindset and rewards of "not yet" do better because they have positive reinforcement and they believe in themselves, as opposed to shutting down due to a simple "fail". She believes that people can increase their capacity to learn by having a growth-mindset, which is developed by attempting to solve problems slightly too hard for them. Q2: What is the author's purpose(s)? A2: Her purpose is to inspire students to have a growth-mindset and to believe that they can do better, as well as inform people about her theories of growth- and fixed-mindsets and the effects they have on students. Q3: What is the context of the video? Consider time, place, and occasion. A3: According to the Details section beneath the video link, the TEDTalk is based upon her book, Mindset, which was published in 2007. She gave the talk at TEDx meeting, in the context of a psychology talk. Q4: What exigence inspires Dweck's claim? In other words, what is going on in the world to inform Dweck's claim or purpose. What stimulates, provokes, or prompts Dweck's argument? A4: Dweck's presentation and research was inspired by the decline of schools. If students were all performing well, there would not be a need for her research - although it might have been conducted out of simple curiosity - nevermind her presentation. The situation with schools and her own interests and curiosity led to her creating the TEDTalk to share with those in need. Q5: Who is the intended audience? What are the audience's beliefs, values, needs, or backgrounds? A5: Her intended audience is those learning about states of mind and psychology, education, and likely those connected to educators who could make use of her theories. The audience is likely educated, interested in the topic of psychology, in need of the information to improve the performance of their students, and have a diverse range of backgrounds. I'd also be willing to bet that those connected to her examples, such as the Harlem kindergarten class and the Native American class, were told that they were included in the presentation and were invited to the talk. Q6: How does the author arrange her ideas? A6: She organizes her talk by idea, not by concept (which would be describing growth-mindset in full before moving on). She opens her talk discussing the concept of "not yet" and how much she likes it, then proceeds to introduce the growth- and fixed-mindsets and how it is represented by (behaviorally and with brain scans, a visual element of rhetoric). She tends to introduce new sections by asking questions, such as "How are we raising our children?" (Dweck 3:13) and "So what we can do?" (Dweck 4:02), and then follows them up with the related details. She also begins new ideas using phrases like "Here are some things we can do" (Dweck 4:09) and "So let's talk about equality" (Dweck 6:36), an equally as intriguing issues as a question. Q7: Identify and explain at least two types of evidence that author uses to support her claim. A7: She gives multiple examples; the two I choose to explain are the kindergarten class in Harlem, New York and the Native American students. "In one year, a kindergarten class in Harlem, New York scored in the 95th percentile on the national achievement test. Many of those kids could not hold a pencil when they arrived at school," she shares. "[And] in a year, to a year-and-a-half, Native American students in a school on a reservation went from the bottom of their distract to the top, and that district included affluent sections of Seattle. So the Native kids outdid the Microsoft kids." These examples stood out to me in particular because of the statement "those kids could not hold a pencil", which I suspect to be a hyperbole (a rhetorical device that uses exaggeration to make a point) and caught my attention, and the comparison of "Native kids [outdoing] the Microsoft kids". Q8: Apply Dweck's main claim to yourself as a student. Do you have a growth or fixed mindset? A8: I think my mindset depends on my situation. I believe I can learn anything - the brain is endlessly capable and I love to learn - and at the same time, when I don't know how to do something and I've tried and tried and still can't figure it out, my mind definitely starts to shut down. The best distinction I can make is a logic puzzle and a math problem. I love logic puzzles, the answer is there somewhere, in enough time, I will find it. But a math problem I haven't been taught how to do? That messes with me. Being expected to do something I don't know how to do gets under my skin like nothing else. I'll use whatever knowledge I can to try and figure it out, but I usually get too frustrated and annoyed, and my mind stops working. I should really work on maintaining a growth-mindset through everything, so I'll at least stay calm when I fail to solve a problem.
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Hayden Doleys
AP Lang student in Spring semester, 2020. Loves to write! ArchivesCategories
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