From “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success” by Carol S. Dweck, PhD
Another transition, another crisis. College is when all the students who were brains in high school are thrown together. Like our graduate students, yesterday they were king of the hill, but today who are they?
Nowhere is the anxiety of being dethroned more palpable than in pre-med classes. In the last chapter, I mentioned our study of tense but hopeful undergraduates taking their first college chemistry course. This is the course that would give them – or deny them – entree to the pre-med curriculum, and it’s well known that students will go to almost any lengths to do well in this course.
At the beginning of the semester, we measured students’ mindsets, and then we followed them through the course, watching their grades and asking about their study strategies. Once again we found that the students with the growth mindset earned better grades in the course. Even when they did poorly on a particular test, they bounced back on the next one. When students with the fixed mindset did poorly, they often didn’t make a comeback.
In this course, everybody studies. But there are different ways to study. Many students study like this: They read the textbook and their class notes. If the material is really hard, they read them again. Or they might try to memorize everything they can, like a vacuum cleaner. That’s how the students with the fixed mindset studied. If they did poorly on the test, they concluded that chemistry was not their subject. After all “I did everything possible, didn’t I?”
Far from it. They would be shocked to find out what students with the growth mindset do. Even I find it remarkable.
The students with growth mindset completely took charge of their learning and motivation. Instead of plunging into unthinking memorization of the course material, they said: “I looked for themes and underlying principles across lectures,” and “I went over mistakes until I was certain I understood them.” They were studying to learn, not just to ace the test. And actually, this was why they got higher grades – not because they were smarter or had a better background in science.
Instead of losing their motivation when the course got dry or difficult, they said: “I maintained my interest in the material.’ “I stayed positive about taking chemistry.” “I kept myself motivated to study,” Even if they thought the textbook was boring or the instructor was a stiff, they didn’t let their motivation evaporate. That just made it all the more important to motivate themselves.