Teach a simple idea/concept with a comic

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Multimedia Learning Project Documentation - Challenge A - Comic Designer: Name: Melissa UVic email: [email protected] Phase 1– Understand (discover, interpret, & specifiy): (5%) 1.1 Succinctly describe a manageable learning challenge that you intend to address. (1 sentence). The learning challenge that I want to address is how teachers can help to develop a growth mindset in their students. 1.2 Elaborate on the context for your project. Describe your audience (think of both the typical and the extreme). What are their needs? What are their goals and motivations? What are your insights? (2-3 paragraphs) My audience for this project is teachers who will teach students about having a growth mindset. Teachers have a real impact on how their students view their own learning and how they feel about themselves so if they are teaching students to have a growth mindset, this will really make a difference in the students’ accomplishments. I believe that there is a need to make sure that teachers are aware of and teaching students to have a growth mindset. This will not only help create a better classroom culture; it will also help the students to be more successful and happy in class and in life. A researcher named Carol Dueck created the idea of a growth mindset. She says that having a growth mindset is when students “seek challenges, learn from mistakes, and keep faith in themselves in the face of failure” (Sparks, 2013). I think that teachers need to teach students that mistakes are just part of the learning process. Dueck emphasizes that how students “perceive their abilities [plays] a key role in their motivation and achievement. More precisely, students who believed their intelligence could be developed (a growth mindset) outperformed those who believed their intelligence was fixed (a fixed mindset)” (2015). See the diagram below to see the differences between these two mindsets:

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Research has shown that “students with a growth mindset improve more in academics and other skills, and can even be less aggressive and more socially engaged” (Sparks, 2013). There are two great videos that explain the idea of promoting a growth mindset - please see: How To Help Every Child Fulfill Their Potential and The Power of Believing You Can Improve - Carol Dueck TEDTalk. In my comic strip, I hope to show the importance of teaching students to have a growth mindset. I also hope to provide some techniques for doing this. In my opinion, teaching a growth mindset is one of the most important things that a teacher can do! References: Dweck, Carol (2015). Growth Mindset Revisited. Education Week. Vol. 35, Issue 05, pp.

20-24.Retrieved from https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2015/09/23/carol-dweck-revisits-the-growth- mindsetHtml

Dweck, Carol (2014). The Power Of Believing That You Can Improve. TED TALK. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/carol_dweck_the_power_of_believing_that_you_can_improv e

Dweck, Carol (2015). How To Help Every Child Fulfill Their Potential. Video. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/Yl9TVbAal5s

Sparks, S. D. (2013). 'Growth Mindset' Gaining Traction As Ed. Strategy. Education Week, 33(3), 1-21. Retrieved from https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2013/09/11/03mindset_ep.h33.html

1.3 Reframe your challenge as a point-of-view statement combining the user, their needs and some insight —([user] needs to [user need] so that [insight]) Every teacher needs to master the art of developing a growth mindset in their students so that the students will achieve success and happiness in school and in life. 1.4 Describe the learning outcomes (competencies) and sub-outcomes (tasks) that this MML project will achieve.

Ø Teachers will be able to identify the differences between a growth mindset and a fixed mindset.

Ø Teachers will be able to explain the importance of teaching a growth mindset. Ø Teachers will be able to identify several techniques for promoting a growth mindset

and apply these techniques in their classrooms. Phase 2 – Plan (ideate, sketch, elaborate): (5%) 2.1 Brainstorm separately (i.e., outside of this document), then succinctly describe one of your promising ideas/solutions/projects (1 sentence) My comic strip will emphasize the importance of teaching a growth mindset and provide some techniques for how to do this.

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2.2 Write a script, draw a storyboard, or sketch out a plan (rough, but readable images and text) for your chosen solution then take a photo and insert (1-3 pages) My Script Title: Growth Mindset? What’s That?

Comic’s Visual Content Comic’s Text Resources 1. Johnny is frustrated and throwing assignment on floor

Johnny: I hate this! I am so stupid! I can’t do this! Lisa is so much better at this than I am. (throws assignment on floor)

2. Teacher yelling at Johnny.

Teacher: Johnny, pick that up and get back to work. We went over this already so you should know how to do it.

3. Teacher talking to colleague

Later… Teacher: (to a colleague) I just don’t know what to do with Johnny. He doesn’t care about school and he is constantly saying that he is stupid. He keeps disrupting the class and I just don’t know what to do about him. Colleague: Maybe you should try promoting a growth mindset!

4. Colleague explaining to teacher

Teacher: What’s a growth mindset? Colleague: A growth mindset is when you think of failure as a learning opportunity and you embrace challenges. A researcher named Carol Dweck has a great video about this called “How to Help Every Child Fulfill Their Potential”. You should check it out! Also, look at this great diagram which explains it.

Video: https://youtu.be/Yl9TVbAal5s Diagram: Growth Mindset

5. Teacher with think bubble and Johnny is frustrated.

The Next Day..Johnny: This is another stupid math assignment! I am so dumb! I can’t do this! Teacher: (thought bubble) – Just like the video taught me, I am going to think about the words that I use to help Johnny.

Diagram: Words To Promote Growth Mindset

6. Teacher helping Johnny do math.

Teacher: Johnny, it isn’t about being able to do all the math right away or even getting the assignment done. It is about learning each little step in the process. I see that you know how to do the first step of this math problem. Now let’s work on the second step together. Johnny: Ok.

7. Teacher talking to class and referring to bulletin board.

The Next Day… Teacher: Class! Please listen! I was just thinking about how the words we use are important for our learning. Let’s create a bulletin board together about words that will help us learn better. These words will help us grow so they are called having a growth mindset. Let’s try to use these words whenever we are having trouble with what we are learning.

Bulletin Board: Change Your Words, Change Your Mindset

8. Johnny thinking about his work.

The Next Day…Johnny: I don’t get this! Oops…I mean, I will need some time and effort to figure this out. I wonder what my next step to this challenge should be??

9. Teacher explaining “The Power of Yet”

A Few Days Later… Teacher: I want to teach you all about another thing that has to do with having a growth mindset. It is called, “The Power of Yet!” Take a look at this picture that explains it. When you are having a problem, you just need to remember that you just don’t know how to do it yet. Just because you can’t do it now, doesn’t mean that you will never be

Diagram: Power of Yet

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able to do it. Let’s try to remember this whenever we get frustrated.

10. Teacher talking to colleague

That Same Day..Teacher: Wow! This growth mindset thing is really working! My students are happier and they are trying harder! Thanks so much for telling me about it. Do you have any other ideas of how I can teach my students to have a growth mindset? Colleague: As a matter of fact I do. There are two things that you can do. The first thing is to give students lots of choice in how they show their learning. This will make them more engaged and make them feel like they have some say in their learning. Another thing you can do is to use rubrics and lots of descriptive feedback. This will make it clear to the students what is expected. They will likely hand in better work and be less frustrated because there are no surprises as to what you are looking for. Here is an example of a rubric that I have used for math problem solving. Teacher: Thanks so much! I will try that!

Rubric Example: Math Problem Solving

11. Teacher explaining the plan to the class.

The Next Day…Teacher: Listen up class! Today we are going to try something different. I am going to give you three choices in how you show your learning. You can make a video, write a story, or create a play about what you learned in Social Studies today. Here is a rubric which shows what I am looking for when I mark your work. To get an “A”, you will need to do the things that are listed under the “Exceptional” column.

12. Students in class exclaiming about how well the Socials class was.

A Bit Later.. Student A: That was awesome! I loved making the play! Student B: The rubric helped me understand what I needed to do. I wish our teacher would do this all of the time! Student C: I love Socials now! I hope we get a choice again next time!

13. Teacher teaching class about the importance of celebrating failure.

A Week Later… Teacher: Remember how we have been talking all month about having a growth mindset – one of the most important things that I want you to remember is that mistakes are good. They are part of the learning process and without them, we won’t learn much. Let’s watch this little video clip from “Meet The Robinson’s” that shows the importance of celebrating failure. Let’s all remember that mistakes are great and just like the video says, they help us to “keep moving forward”. Johnny: That’s so cool! I love that idea!

Meet the Robinson’s Failure Video

14. Teacher watches Johnny as he tells another student about having a growth mindset.

A Month Later… Charlie: I am so stupid! I am done! I quit! I can’t do this! Johnny: Remember what we talked about. Just because you can’t do it now, doesn’t mean that you’ll never be able to do it. You just need to think about what your next little step should be. Let me help you. I know you can do this. Mistakes are just part of learning. I’ll help you get back on track. Teacher: (thought bubble) I think there really is something to that growth mindset stuff! I wish I knew about it a long time ago!

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15. Whiteboard With Link to My Growth Mindset Presentation

My Growth Mindset Presentation

2.3 Succinctly explain your solution and make connections to the multimedia learning principles we are examining in this course (see R1). (1-3 paragraphs) The problem in my storyline will be that the teacher is not promoting a growth mindset and the student has a fixed mindset. The solution to this problem will be that the teacher learns some techniques to promote a growth mindset in the student. The student is then happier and does better in class. He even starts to teach having a growth mindset to some of his classmates. My comic will include the following multimedia learning principles: P1. Keep it simple principle – I will keep my storyline simple so that the content is easy to understand and the message is clear. P2. Punchline principle – This principle will be incorporated in my comic through its storyline. It will start out with two teachers learning how to develop a growth mindset so that they can teach the struggling student. The punchline will be that the student will then teach his classmates about developing a growth mindset. P5. Structure principle – I plan to incorporate this into my comic strip with the storyline. The structure will be simple and laid out so that the information of developing a growth mindset will be covered from the beginning to the end of the comic. I will also include links to other resources if people want to learn more. P6. Coherence principle – Through the storyline, I hope to make the comic relatable to teachers so that they want to apply the information after reading the comic. P14. Problem solving principle (process) – I plan to lay out the storyline of this comic so that there is a problem and a solution. The problem will be that a student has a fixed mindset and the solution will be to give techniques to develop a growth mindset. P13. Segmenting principle – The information of this topic will be broken down into parts so it is easy to grasp and apply. P18. Prototype and seek feedback principle- My hope is that my comic will be both enjoyable and informational enough that people will be able to ask me questions about it after or will want to consider looking into this topic further. P19. Plan-script-storyboard principle- I plan to make sure the script matches the comic layout and not have any extra things in it that I didn’t plan for. P24. Connection principle – My hope is that the comic will be easy enough to understand so that people can apply the information later. I will also connect to several resources throughout the comic. Phase 3 – Carry out the plan (build a Prototype & post on the Challenge Forum): (5%) I have posted my prototype in the course and you can also view my comic strip by clicking here. Phase 4 – Engage in Peer Feedback on Challenge Forum (part of forum assignment): I have responded to six different groups’ comics.

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Phase 5 – Look back (reflect and refine): (5%) Once you have some feedback from your peers (and possibly others in your circle of friends/family) reflect on your prototype. What worked well? What would you change (you may update your prototype if you wish)? What issues were raised by others and how would you attend to them? What strengths and limitations did you observe with this type of multimedia and its potential to support learning? Etc. (3-6 Paragraphs). For students who collaborated on a challenge, please describe the nature of your group members efforts on the challenge (1 paragraph). I was not in a group for this comic assignment. I thought this assignment was very interesting and quite fun to do. I feel that there were quite a few things that worked well about my comic. For example, I feel that I am quite knowledgeable on the topic of creating a growth mindset in the classroom. I have done a few projects on creating a growth mindset before so I was already aware of the research and the suggested techniques. Also, I feel like I gave lots of tips about having a growth mindset that the reader could incorporate into their teaching after reading it. I think that this is one of the most important things that people can gain from my comic. It was important to me to incorporate resources into the comic because I think that this helps the reader to have a better understanding of the topic. Another thing that I think worked well is the program that I used. It is called, “Storyboard That”. I found this program easy to use and I would definitely use it with my students in the future. One thing that I was disappointed about when making the comic is that the “Storyboard That” software doesn’t have any option for making hyperlinks. This was a bit of a problem because I couldn’t just hyperlink the resources that I wanted to include. Because of this issue, I had to add the resources at the end with notes within the comic. I think this made my comic look less simple than I had originally intended. One classmate mentioned that it could be made to be more simplistic, so I struggled with how to do this while still keeping the resources that I wanted to include. Maybe a different comic program would work better or maybe I should include the resources as an appendix – I am still not sure. After doing this assignment, I can see that there are many benefits to using comics in the classroom. These include engaging students, creating a good project for group interaction, and helping students to apply what they have already learned. As well, one of the articles about comics in the “sharing cool finds” section of this course states that students will retain information better if they put the information into a comic strip format. The only limitation may be if students don’t know how to use the software so it would be important to teach this before they start so that they don’t become frustrated. I think that the benefits far outweigh the limitations though so when I am a teacher, I plan to try to incorporate the use of comics into many classroom activities.