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Purpose This essay provides you the opportunity to conduct primary and secondary research on a topic that is personally meaningful to you. You will locate, evaluate, incorporate, and cite sources using MLA style as you write the essay. |
Required Reading
This assignment requires you to read (and incorporate) the following:
- Dweck, Carol S. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. New York: Ballantine, 2008. Print.
- Original research in the research databases and/or Google Scholar
Background
In her book Mindset, Carol Dweck draws a distinction between a fixed mindset—the belief that traits like intelligence and talent are determined at birth—and a growth mindset—the belief that intelligence and talent can be nurtured through effort. Her thesis is that “mindsets change what people strive for and what they see as success†(12) and that these mindsets can be changed.
Reading Task
Dweck outlines several key areas where one’s mindset can affect one’s success in life. Your task is to choose an area that interests you: education (as a student or as a teacher or coach), sports, parenting (as a parent or as a child), business, or interpersonal relationships. Begin by re-reading the relevant chapter in Dweck’s book.
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Ch. 4 |
Sports |
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Ch. 5 |
Business |
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Ch. 6 |
Relationships |
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Ch. 7 |
Parenting, Teachers, and Coaches |
Research Task
An easy first step is to look up (and potentially use) some of the sources she cites in her endnotes. Then conduct additional research to find out how and why mindsets are fixed, whether or not mindsets can be changed, and what effects fixed and growth mindsets have on success in the arena you have chosen.
- You must have 5 sources other than Dweck.
- Extra credit if any of your sources are peer-reviewed journals (also called “juried” or “refereed”) (Links to an external site.).
- You must have a Works Cited page in MLA format. There are many online, automatic generators to help you as well as full explanation of MLA in The West Guide.
Writing Task
In a four- to five-page double-spaced (Links to an external site.) essay, address one or more of the following questions:
HOW CAN A PERSON SHIFT FROM A FIXED TO A GROWTH MINDSET
IN THE AREA YOU HAVE RESEARCHED? WHAT IMPACT WOULD CHANGING TO A GROWTH MINDSET IN THIS AREA HAVE ON SUCCESS?
Your answer to one or more of these questions is your thesis.
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