Learning from errors and failure in educational contexts: New insights and future directions for research and practice

Abstract

Background and aims: Although errors and failures are indispensable parts of the learning process, the current theoretical models and empirical research remain inadequate to provide a comprehensive perspective for learning from errors, considering the roles of different agents, settings, and support mechanisms. Addressing these gaps in the literature, this special issue collects 11 research papers related to learning from errors and failure in educational contexts. In this commentary, we synthesize the findings of these papers with previous work, address conceptual and methodological challenges based on these papers and their implications, and provide suggestions to enhance educational practices.

Results: The special issue papers varying in regard to research design, subject domain, participants, and learning setting presented findings about four main themes: (1) contextual factors (e.g. organization and error climate) as an enabler and barrier, (2) individual factors (e.g. motivational beliefs and emotions) in learners' processing of errors, (3) error- or failure-related learning processes, and (4) instructional strategies (e.g. feedback and prompts) to support learning from errors. Critical evaluation of these papers also revealed conceptual (e.g. error vs. failure) and methodological (e.g. generic vs. error-specific measures and instruments) challenges, which also paved the way for directions for future research.

Conclusion: Overall, 11 papers in this special issue provide significant empirical evidence about learning from errors and failure in educational contexts. Synthesizing the findings of both these papers and prior research, we also present suggestions to construct an educational environment conducive to learning from errors.

Keywords: erroneous example; error climate; instructional support; learning from errors; learning from failure.

FIGURE 1

Overview of components of a supportive error climate in educational contexts.