0.4 Growth Mindset

Students will explore the concept of growth mindset as it relates to learning computer science. They will then practice their own growth mindset as they work through a challenging activity.

OBJECTIVES

OBJECTIVES: By the end of this lesson, students will:

- identify the difference between fixed and growth mindset.
- apply a growth mindset to a challenging activity.

TEACHER RESOURCES:

STUDENT PAGE

SLIDES

Growth Mindset Challenges

Standards

- CSTA 1B-AP-13: Decompose problems and subproblems into parts to facilitate the design, implementation, and review of programs.

CSTA

Do Now (5 minutes)

Students watch the video Push yourself. Anyone can learn (1:25) then respond to the following discussion questions:

1. What does it mean to “push yourself”?
2. What other things have you tried that weren’t easy?
3. How have you overcome a difficult challenge in the past?

TEACHER GUIDANCE

Persistence and hard work are part of learning something new, including computer science. Computer scientists like to "fail often" and they value failure as a part of the design process. When something does not work as intended, tinker with the process and try again. Computer scientists use this iterative design process to come up with even better products. Note: you may wish to have students view the video twice, pointing out that the text on the screen is a translation of what some of the athletes are saying in other languages

Mini-Lesson (10-15 minutes)

Introduce students to the idea of a growth mindset with this video: You Can Learn Anything (1:30). Invite students to share their reactions following the video, or use these discussion prompts:

1. - What is something you once didn’t know but are now really good at?
  - What are some of the feelings you might experience while trying to learn something new?
  - How did you feel when you finally learned how to do something new?

Have students read through the two types of mindsets on this image, then think/pair/share with a partner about which mindset they think they have.

Project (20-30 minutes)

Explain to students that it’s possible for everyone to have a growth mindset, even if it does take a little bit of work. Invite students to practice using a growth mindset while completing today’s challenge from the Growth Mindset Challenge Choice Board.

Close-Out (5 minutes)

Discuss the following questions:

- How did practicing a growth mindset help you solve today’s challenges?
  - Was there ever a point when you were tempted to give up? How did you overcome that feeling?
  - How can you continue practicing a growth mindset when learning computer science?

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