Page 53 - Keys to College Success

Growth Mindset

All individuals have their own unique set of motivators. Motivators can be positive or
negative, such as personal achievement, financial gain, fear of parental disapproval, the
threat of failure, a desire to impress someone, and much more. Motivators can also be
external or internal. If you are motivated by external factors (your parents, circum-
MOTIVATORS
Ideas or goals that move a stances, luck, grades or instructors’ feedback, and so on), you have an external locus of
person to action.
control. If you are motivated by internal factors (values and attitudes), you have an
internal locus of control.
Most people experience external and internal factors in combination. However,
if you are more often motivated by internal factors, Carol Dweck’s research indicates
that you are likely to experience greater success. Why? Because you cannot control
1 the external factors. The only things you can control are the internal factors, such as
CHAPTER mindset—the perception that talent and intelligence can develop with effort—and
your attitude or mindset. Through her work, Dweck developed the idea of a growth
she established that this mindset promotes persistence toward goals as well as suc-
cessful goal achievement. “This view creates a love of learning and resilience that is
essential for great accomplishment,” says Dweck. 26
According to Dweck, people demonstrating a fixed mindset believe that they were
born with an unchangeable level of talent and intelligence. Because of this view, they
tend to work and risk less. Like Seligman, Dweck is focused on the ability to adjust
attitude. As she puts it, “You have a choice. . . . Mindsets are just beliefs. They’re pow-
erful beliefs, but they’re just something in your mind, and you can change your mind.”
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Combine her work with Seligman’s, and you have a solid case for the value of effort,
optimism, and persistence.

Academic Integrity

Each action you take in college has an effect that shapes your immediate experience
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
and perhaps your life. Having academic integrity means taking actions based on ethics
Following a code of moral (your sense of what is right to do) and a value of hard work. The International Center
values in all aspects of
for Academic Integrity (ICAI) defines academic integrity as a commitment to five fun-
academic life, such as
classes, assignments, tests, damental values: 28
papers, projects, and
relationships with students ■ Honesty. Honesty defines the pursuit of knowledge and implies a search for
truth in your classwork, papers, and lab reports, and your teamwork with
and faculty.
other students.
■ Trust. Trust means being true to your word. Mutual trust—between instructor
and student, as well as among students—makes the exchange of ideas possible.
■ Fairness. Instructors must create a fair academic environment where students are
judged against clear standards and in which procedures are well defined.
■ Respect. In a respectful academic environment, both students and instructors
accept and honor a wide range of opinions, even if the opinions are contrary to
core beliefs.
■ Responsibility. You are responsible for making choices that will provide you with
the best education—choices that reflect fairness and honesty.

Students are not the only ones who need to act with integrity. Bill Taylor, emeritus
professor of political science at Oakton Community College in Des Plaines, Illinois,
wrote a letter to his students explaining that academic integrity makes requirements of
both students and instructors. For example, while students need to come to class on
time and prepared to contribute, instructors need to arrive on time prepared to teach;
while students need to hand in their own work, instructors need to give relevant assign-
ments and grade fairly. 29

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