Psychology Today: To Learn, Students Must First Fail

"For years, educators have followed a model of explaining a new concept, then letting students practice. Think of a typical math class: the teacher will introduce an idea, do some example problems on the blackboard, and then ask students to practice similar problems on their own.

New research finds that this age-old pattern may not be the most effective teaching method. A systematic review published in October in the journal Review of Educational Research identifies a better system: allow students to wrestle with a new problem first, and then explain the underlying concept.

Education researcher Manu Kapur, a co-author of the review, calls this strategy “productive failure.” His research suggests it may be the key to teaching STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) concepts in middle school and beyond.

For the review, Kapur and postdoc researcher Tanmay Sinha analyzed 53 studies of science and math students in North America, Europe, and Asia. The students ranged from second graders to postgraduates, but most were 12 to 18 years old. Their findings demonstrate that asking students to problem-solve first was two to three times more effective for learning than providing instruction first.

Evidence shows that when students recognize their knowledge gaps in trying to solve the initial problem, it sparks an interest in learning. This helps them better understand the new concept when the teacher explains it.

The take-home message: An alternate method of learning where students first problem-solve, then receive instruction, is more effective than traditional learning methods."

*Many of us probably attended school and learned through the "instruction first, practice second" method. While this method is effective, researchers found that allowing students to practice some problems prior to instruction allows for curiosity to spark and the ability to learn better. While this seems like a great method for students to learn material in school, I think that this can be seen in a greater perspective. Failing really teaches us lessons that we wouldn't learn otherwise, even in life. We all fail sometimes, but that's how we learn to get back up and build resiliency. After learning I didn't get into graduate school last year, I was devastated. It was hard to continue, but after taking some time to rest and heal I got back up and started working towards applying again this year and I was so proud of myself for that. Having that ability to bounce back is important in life and can help give us "tougher skin" to handle life's setbacks.*

How have you bounced back from life's setbacks? What did you learn from those experiences?

#Failure #Resiliency #Learning

Read the full article here.