LITERATURE IN REVIEW
After reading Adam Grant ’ s Think Again , I ’ ve changed my mind a second time , not only to “ it depends ,” but to “ we all erred by not thinking again .” Grant , a teacher of management at the Wharton School , argues that , “ When it comes to our knowledge and opinions ... we tend to stick to our guns . Psychologists call this seizing and freezing . We favor the comfort of conviction over the discomfort of doubt .” That explains the corn game , but more important , it shows that seizing and freezing is a defective strategy for learning . To put this in the school context , he cites a meta-analysis of test scoring in which psychologists conducted a comprehensive review of 33 studies , [ and ] found that “ in every one , the majority of answer revisions were from wrong to right . This phenomenon is known as the first-instinct fallacy .”
I ’ ve gone on this long for two reasons : first , it ’ s impossible to summarize Grant ’ s arguments in a short space because he offers 30 effective tools for helping us change minds — our own and others ’— and second because one of those tools is “ Instead of treating polarizing issues like two sides of a coin , look at them through the many lenses of a prism . Seeing the shades of gray can make us more open .”
Grant offers grounds for rethinking in his first chapter ’ s title : “ A Preacher , a Prosecutor , a Politician , and a Scientist Walk into Your Mind .” As he explains , “ We go into preacher mode when ... we deliver sermons to protect and promote our ideals . We enter
”‘ When it comes to our knowledge and opinions ... we tend to stick to our guns . Psychologists call this seizing and freezing . We favor the comfort of conviction over the discomfort of doubt .’”
prosecutor mode when ... we marshal arguments to prove them wrong and win our case . We shift into politician mode when ... we campaign and lobby for the approval of our constituents .” It is all too easy to fall into these modes when teaching — after all , aren ’ t we the experts ? ( Grant even cites the famous debunked term from the last century : “ The sage-on-the-stage often preaches new thoughts , but rarely teaches us how to think .”)
One of his central concerns is how good teaching works . As might be expected from his title , he offers himself as a case study . Describing a complex double-study of lecturing versus experiential teaching , he first concedes , “ I expected active learning to win the day , but the data suggest that you and your roommate will both enjoy the subject more when it ’ s delivered by lecture .” But then he rethinks further , using a point he had made earlier —“ We listen to views that make us feel good , instead of ideas that
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CSEE Connections Fall 2021 Page 21