Growth Mindset Discussion
Part 1:
Watch the video and then respond to the following:
What struck you about the Growth Mindset video?
How does it relate to yourself and what you’ve been thinking about your success in this course?
Think about someone you know who speaks well. What is it specifically that this person does?
What struck me about the video is how much of a difference your mindset has. How if you believe there is no way to get better at something that you are only as good as you are at the time of your birth will find excuses to prove your point. I believe wholly that your mindset does make a huge difference in how successful you are. There is no one that is just as good as how they came out of the womb. Yes, there are those who naturally excel at certain things than others but that doesn’t mean you can’t match their performance or even surpass their performance as well with the proper mindset and practice. When I think of someone who speaks well, they are standing or sitting up straight, attentive, and speaking with confidence in their words. Someone who does not speak well will fidget a lot, stutter, or mess their wording up constantly, and often make me feel uncomfortable just by how nervous they are.
Student 2:
What struck me about this video is that the growth mindset is the foundation for learning. When you look at people who really want to learn vs people who don’t really care and just do what they need to do, the people who are taking the time and work to learn are way more likely to succeed than people who don’t have that same care for learning. This relates to me because I was always pushed by my family and important adult figures in my life to strive to learn and work hard. This relates to my thinking about my probable success in this class because I know I’m not going to let myself have a fixed mindset or just give up. I know I can learn and work hard and end this class with a good grade as long as I keep up with the growth mindset. A person who speaks well speaks a message they are sharing clearly and with the knowledge they gained. They speak at an appropriate level depending on the audience and use good eye contact. They also use hand movements to help get their message across. A person who doesn’t speak as well may stumble on their words and doesn’t use an appropriate speaking voice. They tend to avoid eye contact maybe out of shyness and also have bad body language.
Part 2:
What Is Argumentation?
After reading chapter 1 in the textbook, respond to the following prompts:
What are some advantages to argumentation?
What are some disadvantages to argumentation?
How will the advantages of argumentation improve your ability to communicate your views in a controversy?
How will you overcome the limitations of argumentation?
Respond to at least two other classmate’s posts.
Student 1:
Some advantages to argumentation would be that it is how the world has been and continues to be shaped. Open dialogue, compromise, and sharing knowledge can be found through two or more individuals arguing.
Disadvantages would be when people move from conversating about a topic, to fighting, which is what we see today. Two sides constantly fighting, their hubris dominating the conversation rather than their ears to listen and minds to think about what the opposing side is saying. When in front of an audience, some individuals may not be in agreement but that can apply to any situation with mixed company.
Improving my argumentation ability to communicate about controversial topics has advantages such as becoming more knowledgeable by researching both sides of the argument which will not only strengthen the side you are on but also allow you to become completely informed of the opposing sides argument. By becoming well versed in both sides of a topic, it becomes easier to dismantle the opposing sides argument and significantly reducing their credibility.
I do not believe there are limitations of argumentation, only limitations of the individuals arguing. Utilizing thorough research, a calm demeanor, ethical communication and a willingness to be patient while taking as much time as needed to fully discuss the topic there should be no limitations.
Student 2:
1. An advantage to argumentation is using it to discover knowledge in something. You can fuse ideas and opinions together and also persuade others into being on board with the different ideas that are presented.
2. A disadvantage to argumentation is how some decide to go about it. We shouldn’t argue for the fact of being right or trying to sound better than someone else. Another disadvantage is the emotion involved in it. Arguing can stir up extreme emotions like anger, but that’s not what arguing is supposed to be about.
3. I think the advantages of argumentation will improve my ability to communicate my views in controversy by being open to more ideas outside of my own. I’ll be able to find an understanding in another person if I argue with them. And just maybe, we can connect our ideas together in ways that make sense.
4. To overcome the limitations of argumentation, I will have to bring the most important point to argue up first so that I don’t waste time with the smaller details or facts.