LearnStorm Growth Mindset: Khan Academy's math content creator on learning strategies

I'm Jeff Dodds. I'm a math content creator here at Khan Academy. I had a fixed mindset for a really long time. I was convinced that I was a math person and I was smart and I was just good at math.

So, I remember the first time I really struggled. I was taking a linear algebra course, and the homework was not required; it was optional. The grade just came from quizzes every week and a midterm and a final. I thought that if the lectures were making sense, then I must understand it. I was really frustrated with my initially low scores.

My brain started switching into this really fixed mindset where I would blame the teacher because they must not be preparing us well for the quizzes. But then I started to suspect, like, "Oh gosh, maybe I'm just not that smart, and maybe I'm not good at math after all. I was just wrong all along."

But I took to like joining study groups for students in the class who were doing better than me. I thought just by being around them that I could somehow soak up their smartness and figure out the trick that they had discovered. I was kind of surprised that their key to success was just getting together and doing the optional practice problems and talking them out.

People were vulnerable and asking questions, saying, "I don't understand this; can someone help me out with this?" It was the first time where it kind of clicked for me that, oh, optional practice! Like, I don't have to do it just because it's for a grade; I can do it to learn and grow. I had to give up the idea that I’m smart and I understand this on my own and work with other people to ask them questions when I was getting stuck with something or to help someone when they needed it, to help myself grow, and the grades would take care of themselves from there.

I did give up that sense of, "Oh, I'm smart, and I can get this all on my own." It really changed the way I approached my coursework—not just in math but in everything past that. I kind of realized the importance of practice and asking questions and being vulnerable enough to say, "I don't understand this, and I need some help."

Being able to admit that to myself and to other people that I do not understand this—and you understand a lot better than me—so I would like your help, please, that was really big for me.

That's still important, um, when I was a teacher or in my job today where I think, you know, maybe there's a better way to teach this concept, and I can reach out to other people and look at what they do. It's okay to not be the master, because we're all students. We're all still growing, and everyone has room for improvement in some way.

If everyone just kind of quietly works on their own, then that's not going to produce the best outcomes we can possibly get, because there's usually some area we need help with, and there's someone out there who's happy to help you. So, why not? Why not go take advantage of that?