The sudden arrival of COVID-19 disrupted educational norms. Students could no longer see each other in buzzing lecture halls or partake in lively classroom discussions. Instead, they were bound to their computer screens and grappling with motivation, loneliness, and other challenges to effective learning and well-being. We used this strange historical moment to help students with finding motivation independently and foster their autonomy in creating their own learning strategies.
Aha! moment
We quickly realized that reflection plays a very important role in autonomous and self-regulated learning. We had already experimented with skills and journaling among students, and soon we had that aha-moment of operationalising autonomous learning as a cycle, from goal setting to practice and feedback. We then expanded and took the opportunity of helping students reshape their way of learning and create a growth mindset. We did so by creating practical tools that could help them reflect on their own learning process. However, we also acknowledged that students should get the space to be able to reflect and we invited teachers and educators to partake in our journey.
Exploring our way of working
From the outset, co-creation was a term that we identified us with: a diverse team of teachers, students, and other educators. Collaboration became our fertile ground. Luckily, Leiden University College gave us space to experiment, innovate, and adapt. Our dynamic collaboration ultimately resulted in us winning second place at the Hogeronderwijspremie! With this success in mind, we were ready to scale up Learning Mindset across the educational domain.
Scaling up
Scaling up our method is exactly what we are now doing. We want Learning Mindset to be as accessible as possible for users, learners, teachers, and researchers from all over the world. In practice this means redesigning our website, setting clear conditions, and investing in our partnerships.
We are proud of what we have accomplished so far, and ready to go even further with transforming learning processes of learners from all over the world!
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