Through mistakes to success

Our brain is a predictive organ: it makes assumptions and registers whether they are correct. If an action does not lead to the desired result, for example, solving a problem , it reacts in a fraction of a second. An alarm signal is triggered in the frontal regions of the brain , especially in the anterior cingulate cortex.        

Although this signal is perceived as somewhat unpleasant, it has a positive effect. It increases concentration and provides the brain with resources for correction. While our brain searches for solutions, the nerve cells involved work more intensively and precisely, which leads to deeper processing.

Above all, this process teaches us not only what works, but also what does not work. The latter ensures that the new knowledge is stored much more broadly and effectively in our long-term memory.

When we are stressed, we can hardly learn from our mistakes

As already mentioned, our brain's error alarm system also triggers emotions in cooperation with other brain regions. This may be a slight irritation that perhaps even arouses curiosity in the sense of: «Hmm... that didn't work. Why might that be? Maybe it will work if I...»

For many children and young people, however, mistakes are associated with insecurity and sometimes even intense fear and shame. They fear being devalued, criticised, punished or humiliated if they fail at something. The stress hormones released as a result impair the activity of the prefrontal cortex and block the learning process.

Only when we recognise a gap and realise that we are lacking something in order to progress do we want to learn more.

Many teachers and parents are aware of this and strive to teach children a healthy tolerance for mistakes. However, this is not so easy. It is not enough to repeatedly tell children that mistakes are helpful or beneficial. They need to experience this first-hand time and time again. This also means that we need to be honest and teach them that there are different situations in which we deal with mistakes differently.

Use learning assessments, increase tolerance for mistakes

Children and young people intuitively realise that mistakes are not helpful in many situations. In exams, they lead to lower grades; in gymnastics competitions, they result in points being deducted; and when playing a piece of music in front of an audience, they are embarrassing.

One way to reduce the fear of making mistakes would be to give fewer marks and instead use learning assessments. These involve evaluating mistakes, giving children and young people the opportunity to relearn what they did not understand and then try the learning assessment a second time.

However, there is also a lot we can do within the existing system to increase error tolerance. We use practical experiences to teach children and young people that mistakes made in practice situations ultimately help us to learn much more. But only if we address those mistakes. One promising way of doing this is through the teaching method of productive failure.  

Mistakes as part of the learning process

Manu Kapur, Professor of Learning Sciences at ETH Zurich, has been researching a learning method for years in which pupils and students are deliberately confronted with tasks that they cannot solve.

Right at the start, learners are told that they will be given a task that they will probably not be able to solve, and that the aim is to think about possible solutions and to be creative and inventive in their approach. This gives them the confidence they need to tackle the task without fear and to see mistakes as part of the learning process.  

With the productive thinking method, teachers also gain a better understanding of how their pupils think.

In this phase, learners activate their prior knowledge, try something out and fail. These small, desirable failures reveal their lack of knowledge. This, in turn, is an important motivator for wanting to learn something new. Only when we recognise a gap and realise that we are missing something in order to move forward do we want to learn more. A little frustration is part of the process, but it is quickly replaced by curiosity and interest: «How does that work?»

Positive effects

Now the teacher can analyse the attempts at solving the problem with the learners. Often, it turns out that many of them are already heading in the right direction. The teacher can now decide whether to impart the necessary knowledge or simply give individual hints to guide the learners towards the solution.

More than 150 studies now show that productive failure leads to a better understanding of concepts and significantly improves knowledge retention. The studies relate almost exclusively to STEM subjects and show very positive effects, especially among young people and students. However, some studies indicate that even primary school children can benefit from this.

Learning for life

In addition to subject-specific knowledge, this form of learning also helps children and young people discover that problems can generally be solved more effectively if they approach them courageously, try things out, think about why something did not work, deal with mistakes and make a new attempt.  

Manu Kapur emphasises that it is not necessary to completely overhaul the entire teaching process in order to work with this method. It is sufficient to incorporate short phases here and there. For example, at the beginning of a new maths topic, a problem can be set before the theory is taught.

Particularly interesting: evaluating the solutions not only helps learners to understand the material better. In relevant studies, teachers also stated that this gave them a much better understanding of how pupils think, what prior knowledge they have and what to focus on when teaching the theory.  

If you, dear reader, find this learning method as fascinating as I do, you can find many more articles, interviews and videos on the subject online by searching for the keywords «productive failure» and «Manu Kapur».