Skip Downing's My Lazy American Students

What is a victim mindset? A victim mindset is when someone is busy blaming other and complaining instead of finding a solution for their problem. On the other hand is creator mindset which is when someone is focused on finding the solution to their problem and taking action. Skip Downing a college professor with a doctoral degree in English and master’s in psychology talks about these different mindsets in his book On Course: Strategies for Creating Success in College and in Life. This book is also about how students’ can become successful and what skills they would need in order to achieve success. Kara Miller teaches rhetoric and history at Babson College which is a private school in Massachusetts. Her article “My Lazy American Students”

is about how her American students lack the work ethic her overseas students have. Also how her overseas students tend to always do better than her American students. Miller’s students’ lack of work ethic would usually be remedied by Downing’s advice on active learning. Furthermore, Downing’s advice on creator mindset would almost certainly remedy Miller’s students’ lack of personal responsibility.
Advice given by Downing on active learning would usually remedy the work ethic Miller’s students’ lack.

“My “C,” “D,” and “F” students this semester are almost exclusively American, while my students from India, China, and Latin America have – despite language barriers – generally written solid papers, excelled on exams, and become valuable class participants,” states Kara Miller, a rhetoric and history professor at Babson college, in her article “My Lazy American Students” (1). This means that the American students are not studying enough or not understanding the material. It can also mean that they don’t put much effort into their classes or don’t pay attention in class. Skip Downing, an English professor with a master’s in Psychology, explains in his book On Course: Strategies for Creating Success in College and in Life, “In college, two of the most important ways you’ll collect information and skills are through reading textbooks and attending classes” (25). When you attend classes you are exposed to the material and when you read your textbook you are exposed a second time. This allows you to retain information better. Then, you can ask questions during class on the material you didn’t understand. This will allow you to apply your understanding of the material to exams and might even help you pass the class. This would have allowed Miller’s American students to do better in her class. If you don’t pay attention during class then you’re essentially just cramming the information in your brain when reading the text. In addition, if you only pay attention during class and don’t read the textbook then you will miss out on valuable information not covered in the

lecture.
Of course collecting information is important, but it is also important to practice so that you will retain information better. Downing states, “The human brain… is composed of trillions of cells. About 100 billion of them are neurons, and here’s where much of our learning takes place… When neurons fire together, they form what is called a “neural network.” I like to picture a bunch of neurons joining hands in my brain, jumping up and down, and having a learning party. If this party only happens once, learning is weak… if you cause the same collection of neurons to fire repeatedly…the result is a long term memory” (21). If you skim through a chapter just once you won’t remember the information in the chapter; however, if you take notes while reading or quiz yourself on the chapter you will most likely remember the information better. The more you practice the better you will be at remembering the material. If Miller’s American students had practiced more than they would have done better on their exams, and would be on the same level as her overseas students.
Downing’s advice on adapting a creator mindset instead of a victim mindset will almost certainly remedy the lack of personal responsibility Miller’s students’ demonstrate. “Too many 18-year-old Americans, meanwhile, text one another under their desks (certain they are sly enough to go unnoticed), check e-mail, decline to take notes, and appear tired and disengaged,” writes Miller (2). This can cause a lack of communication and make it harder to pass the class. If you aren’t paying attention you can miss vital information and maybe even important due dates. Her students are not accepting responsibility of their education by ignoring Millers’ lecture. Downing believes, “A creator mindset causes people to see multiple options, choose wisely among them, and take effective actions to achieve the life they want” (42). They accept responsibility for their actions and put their energy into making the situation better. They would be taking charge to shape their future the way they want it. So instead of texting their friends a student with a creator mindset would be taking notes and listening to the lecture intently. They would also be asking questions so that their mind doesn’t wander. Although it is true we have some events out of our control that do make us a victim; however, as Downing says, “If I allow that event to ruin my life, I am a Victim (with a capital “V”)” (42). With a victim mindset you limit yourself. With this mindset you also tend to focus more on who is to blame then what you can do to rectify the problem. You can tell Miller’s students has adapted this mindset because they are not accepting personal responsibility of the consequence of their actions. Also, by just sitting there they are choosing the route that won’t lead to an improvement.