Students on setback
Have you failed any assessments or received a lower than expected mark?
Vivek: I think everybody who has attended Uni has received a mark that was not what they expected.
Sanga: Yep, so coming into Uni in first year, I had a lot of these set-backs. Mainly, just failing subjects, just not being used to Uni workload and trying to balance my social life.
Aurora: So, I would say, probably the biggest setback I’ve had in my course so far would be during my honours project. I started off really motivated and really excited, but then when I fell through some setbacks, which involved filming things that didn’t turn out as well as I wanted it to. I reacted probably a little too dramatically to what happened, instead of just moving on, getting back on the horse and moving on.
Nitin: A failure that I had was for a flood model design. It was a group project, and we put a lot of effort and a lot of time to get this project out, but we ended up almost failing. We tried to go throughout the group and figure out all the problems that happened to it, and this didn’t really work out.
How did you bounce back and learn from this experience?
Vivek: The worst thing you can do at University is keep a fixed mindset because there’s always room for improvement. You have to keep growing and keep changing things up. The worst thing you can do is keep to the same routine. Don’t get me wrong, routines are good, but there’s always ways to improve them.
Nitin: Time management, especially from the beginning of the course, is very important. I also learnt that it’s not the end of the world if I fail just one aspect of a course or if I fail a course.
Sanga: I also did attend some CAPS services (Counselling and Psychological Services at UNSW), and a talked to a few counsellors. They kind of guided me, and gave me different types of advice. They gave me a different perspective from my parents, because it’s a completely different variable from my life.
Any advice for your fellow students?
Vivek: It’s really important to have a growth mindset when it comes to University. You have to figure out ways you can grow, and can improve your own processes, as well as yourself - because that’s what University is all about. For those who do get bad marks or a mark lower than what they expected, it’s not the end of the world. If anything, it’s an opportunity to grow, an opportunity to get feedback from that (low mark), and find a way to grow and improve yourself based on those comments.
Aurora: So if you are facing failure, poor results, setbacks or whatever you want to call it, the best thing to do is to not hold yourself too much to those marks, and also kind of accept that it happens to everyone. It’s not something I think our society talks about very much. A lot of people talk about where you’re going to get to, but they don’t talk about the process, and the process is really just as important as the final result. So improving how you go about doing things and also getting feedback from your tutor without say, blaming them, or blaming other people around you, is a good thing to develop.
Understanding growth mindset
Have you ever wondered what you need to do to take your work to the next level? Don’t worry, it doesn’t involve working out, being super studious, or spending vast amounts of money. In fact, you are already doing it. Think about how you respond when you’re presented with a new computer game, or a phone that you don’t know how to play or use. What do you do? You explore, you make mistakes, and you persevere. Despite the setbacks, you keep on going and you never give up. Eventually, you get to the next level or work things out. Carol Dweck, a psychologist and professor at Stanford believes it is this try-again attitude or “growth mindset” that can help you reach your potential. Your mindset is the way you interpret or respond to certain circumstances that come your way. Dweck has defined two different types of mindsets: a fixed mindset and a growth mindset.
With a fixed mindset, people believe that their intelligence and talent are fixed traits. Sure, there’ll be a few bumps along the way, but by and large, they believe that natural ability will always win through. On the other hand, people with a growth mindset believe that they can grow their brains, that intelligence and talent are qualities that can be improved upon from hard work, persistence and an openness to learning.
So how does this work at Uni? Well it all comes down to you and your willingness to improve your work and bounce back from setbacks. But what happens when things don’t work out? For example, how do you respond when you receive a lower than expected mark on an essay or exam? Do you feel A) disappointed, upset, or even a bit mad? You may look for external reasons as to why this has happened. You start to ruminate: You didn’t have time to study, it was too hot or the lecturer doesn’t like you. After a while, you begin to doubt your own ability and decide next time around, you should take an easier option. This is a fixed mindset for you.
Or with the same results, do you feel B) disappointed, upset, and maybe even a bit mad. But still, you are determined to find out why you got this result. With the feedback, you decide to change or improve your study methods so next time around, you do things differently. The setback motivates you to be better next time. This is a growth mindset.
Disappointments such as this, or setbacks, are a part of life, and we all experience them at some point or another. The key though is not to think of these experiences as self-defining, as this will limit your ability to grow and develop. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be that way. You can change your mindset simply by changing your approach to failures and setbacks. It’s as simple as thinking “I’m not there - YET.” Take on board feedback and use it to adjust your strategy and take your work to the next level.
To learn more on how to get a growth mindset, check out the strategy section in this module.
Growth mindset strategies
Strategies. Our mindsets are not set in stone. In fact, we are all a mixture of growth and fixed mindsets, depending on the situation that comes our way. They key though is to develop a growth mindset in a learning context, as this will help you get on the right path to realise your potential, and take your work to a whole other level. So, how do you get a growth mindset?
Start by giving these suggestions a go.
Self-talk: “I can’t do it - YET.” The way we talk to ourselves in our mind has a really big impact on what we acutely achieve. If you catch yourself saying, “I can’t do that” – just add the word “YET” on the end of the sentence. Embrace challenges. Next time life or someone throws something tricky or unfamiliar to your way, don’t throw it back, but embrace it. If it feels hard, that’s just your brain growing. Keep working at it. The point isn’t to get it all at once, but to grow your understanding step-by-step. Remind yourself that it takes time to master a skill set. Make the most of feedback. Look at feedback as an opportunity to get better at what you’re doing, and try not to take it personally. Be open to new ways of doing things. Get out of your comfort zone and be open to learning new things. If your problem solving didn’t get you the result you wanted the first or second time, try a different approach, and don’t keep doing more of the same thing. Persevere in the face of set-backs and recognise that failure or set-back can be an opportunity to learn. Don’t be defeated or give up on what is important to you. Celebrate your progress, and acknowledge your hard work and achievements.
So, the key to taking your work to the next level is a growth mindset. Be open to learning and don’t be afraid to take on the feedback. Think in terms of “I’m not there –YET,” and look for ways to improve your work. If things aren’t working, try another strategy or ask for advice. You have the keys to unlock your own potential, so go for it! Good luck.
Growth Mindset: Expert Perspective
So my name is Dr John McGhee, and I am the director of the 3d visualization and aesthetic lab here in the faculty of Art and Design.
So I studied industrial design, at Art College, a long time ago, or it feels like a long time ago.
The setback I had was in my final years honours project where I got very much tunnel vision and put a huge amount of pressure on myself and actually lost sight of the overall project, and really didn’t achieve the grade that I really wanted. And at the time it felt like, you know the world had ended at that time, but I think looking back, it was an experience that ultimately I learned a lot more from than the actual grade.
The mark is only one part of what, of how you measure our success at uni. It’s not the whole thing, and I think a lot of people put a huge amount of emphasis on it, but ultimately when you go out into the work place, you know your mark will be a very small part of what they will look at. They want to look at you as a person, whether you can work in a team potentially and what you bring in terms of your personal skills, and one of those skills is how you deal with pressure.
Key tips are when you feel really pressurized and you feel that you’re getting tunnel vision and things are becoming too much take a step back, try and contextualize what you’re doing, speak to friends, speak to family that have nothing to do with your studies and try and contextualize, because then you’ll probably feel better. You’ve got to release that pressure valve, because it will impair your judgement, and I’ll also say try and have fun.
See next
Growth mindset
Learn how to achieve your potential and bounce back from failure and setbacks
