MIT: Independent Activities Period: IAP

IAP 2017



Hack your potential: using a growth mindset to succeed at MIT and beyond

Lourdes Aleman, Research Scientist

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/08
Limited to 20 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: None

Many students arrive at MIT riding on years of academic success and praise from teachers, parents, and colleagues. But what happens when you encounter uncertainty and failure? Have you been in a challenging class where you worry about how others will perceive you if don't sound "smart" enough? When you fail to achieve a specific goal, how do you manage and overcome discouragement and self-doubt? In this course, we will examine how our own notions of potential and ability can have a fundamental impact on how we approach our work, how much we learn, and how successful we can be in achieving our goals. The course will focus on recent, evidence-based insights regarding human performance, neuroplastictiy, motivation and on how deliberately cultivating a "growth-mindset" can improve our willingness and ability to face challenges and to innovate, despite the risk of failure.

This course is limited to 20 students. Please send a brief description of who you are and why you would like to take this course to Lourdes Alemán at laleman@mit.edu. You will be notified via e-mail to confirm registration. Registration is open until 1/8.

Sponsor(s): Office of Educational Innovation and Technology
Contact: Lourdes Aleman, 617 715-5348, LALEMAN@MIT.EDU


Session 1

Jan/10 Tue 10:00AM-12:00PM E51-085

How people learn, neurosplasticity, struggling and how it relates to learning.


Session 2

Jan/13 Fri 10:00AM-12:00PM E51-085

The relationship between different types of mindset, learning and achievement. 


Session 3

Jan/17 Tue 10:00AM-12:00PM E51-085

Learning to embrace challenges and learning from them: cultivating a growth mindset.


Session 4 (optional)

Jan/20 Fri 10:00AM-12:00PM E51-085

Using deliberate practice & evidence-based studying strategies to improve learning and achievement. This optional session builds upon Sessions 1-3, but can also be attended as a stand-alone session.