Unit 1.1: Introduction to learning

By the end of this unit, students will be able to:

• Evaluate the ways that fixed and growth mindsets have shaped their past learning.
• Investigate the role of science, scientists, and attitudes about science among peers in their classroom.
• Construct a set of individual overall learning goals that demonstrate a growth mindset in order to establish their own identity as a beginning scientist.

This material is suitable as an introduction to any science course at any level and is designed to be used in the first class of the semester. The activities are suitable to use in both large and small classrooms, in person and online, as well as synchronous and asynchronous applications. The objective from the growth mindset materials is to set the tone and learning environment for the class as well as to help students begin to define their relationship with being a learner and practitioner of science. Expect this unit to take 40-60 min of class time. This could be a tight squeeze in a 50-minute class if you want to use it on the very first day and also plan to spend time reviewing the course syllabus.

Teaching Materials:

All Slides: U1.1 All Slides.pptx (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 4.2MB Jul8 24)

Intro Survey: Place these questions around the room and give students post-it notes so that they can add their opinions. Or, do it digitally: turn this file into a google form survey. U1.1 Intro Survey.pdf (Acrobat (PDF) 343kB Jul8 24) or U1.1 Survey Google Form.pdf (Acrobat (PDF) 141kB Jul8 24).

Instructor Notes for Pre-Class Assignment: U1.1 Pre-Class Instructor Notes.docx (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 68kB Jul8 24)

Other materials needed: projector, computer connected to speaker if pre-class videos are shown in class, white boards/large chart paper and post-its for survey (optional). A word-cloud generator is suggested for the in-class discussion. We like to use freewordcloudgenerator.com.

Pre-Class assignment:

• Students watch these two videos and answer the following questions as they watch:
• How To Help Every Child Fulfill Their Potential - YouTube video (10 min)
  • Give an example of a time when a teacher or adult role model used a growth mindset to help you develop.
  • Give an example of a time when a teacher or adult role model used a fixed mindset to help you develop.
• The Science of Thinking (12 min)
  • What are some ways that you can engage System 2 (Drew) to help you learn?
  • How many things can you hold in your working memory at once? Why can this be a problem in a traditional lecture classroom?

In Class (40-60 min):

• Survey student attitudes about science and compare within the class and to other populations. The survey is set up as a collaborative graphing exercise, either whiteboards/chart paper around the classroom and markers/post its to plot datapoints or editable google slides. The survey data are used in the class to introduce who we, a cohort of learners, are in this moment at the beginning of the course as well as to introduce graphing early on. (20 min)
• Lead a class discussion around the survey data. This is a first opportunity to look at graphical representations of data and explain how the data are represented, and to situate students among their peers. Perhaps all have similar answers? Or are vastly different? This is who we are and where we are all beginning. Next, you will lead students through several short activities (students drawing their relationship with science and setting personal goals) and discussions (responses to the pre-class video questions, the growth-to-fixed mindset scale). Short ~5 min activities include asking your students to draw a representation of their individual relationship with science and setting personal goals for the course (these goals will be returned at the end of the semester). (20-40 min)
• Finally, engage your students in an end-of-class discussion beginning by asking them "why are we here?" and inviting discussion to answer the additional questions of: Why learn science? Who can be a scientist? What is the role of science in society? What is the role of a scientist? After this initial discussion, task the students with collaboratively writing a verb list to answer "what do scientists do?" This list will be used later in this unit.

This is the first day in a course that is heavily focused on discussion, group work, and active participation. Make sure that you use this day to set expectations for the rest of the course and engage your best active teaching strategies.

In the introductory video, your "System 1" brain is given a name and character (Gun) and your "System 2" brain is given a name and character (Drew). You may find it helpful to instead use the terminology "fast thinking brain" for System 1/Gun and "slow thinking brain" for System 2/Drew. Be clear with your students what you mean by this so you can reference it easily later in the semester.

This is a short warm-up day with a pre-class assignment but no after-class assignments.

In this course, you will be giving the students pre-class exercises very regularly. Some considerations:

• Consider including a small grade category in your syllabus (5-10%) of all-or-nothing credit for completing the pre-class assignments.
• If you do not think your students will complete a pre-class assignment before the first day of classes, then these videos can be shown in class. But, if this is done, make sure to add 25-30 minutes to timing expectations. 
• Think carefully about a format that works for the structure of your course and your own capacity to assign credit/grade these small, frequent assignments. Is there a convenient way to build these assignments into your learning management system (LMS)? Do you want to assign these formally for credit, or just assume that students have completed them and begin each class with a discussion that relates to the answers? Can you set a due date an hour before class so you have time to skim answers and summarize at the start of your class (this is a form of just in time teaching)? Whatever you choose, try to be consistent so your students can get into the rhythm of the semester easily.

Many of the resources on growth and fixed mindset comes from this website: What Is a Growth Mindset, and Why Does It Matter?, from Transforming Education, published 31 Oct. 2020.

Two pre-class videos:

• RSA. (2015, December 15). RSA ANIMATE: How to Help Every Child Fulfil their potential [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yl9TVbAal5s
• Veritasium. (2017, March 2). The science of thinking [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBVV8pch1dM