The idea is simple. You rarely learn by doing something right. You learn through making mistakes, reflecting, using the lessons you have been ‘taught’, and then seeing how well you learned the lessons. However, students do not like failing or doing things over again. For life long learning and to become good problem solvers and innovators, they need to learn how to fail and fail often!
They need to understand that failing and making mistakes is learning about mistakes. And, that from learning from mistakes, you can understand what is better, why it is better, and understand when this happens. They need to learn that making a mistake once should be viewed in a positive way; while appreciating that repeated mistakes might have a cost. If you learn from your mistakes and improve, this should be a good thing and not be treated in a punitive fashion.
You cannot simply lecture and tell students about how to fail and the benefits of failing. They need to experience failure for themselves and discover that certain kinds of failures are actually good things to experience. They need to know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and it is not the end of the world when they fail. Just because they fail at something does not mean that they are a failure.
In reality though, if a student experiences few constructive failure situations in a course or a program, it is unlikely that the student will be comfortable with the process and results. There will be insecurity and lots of student concern. Once a student becomes comfortable with the process and understands that the failures are being managed in a safe and constructive fashion, they will engage and benefit.
Just having the students make mistakes and fail is not what constructive failure is about. Making the same mistake repeatedly is also not what constructive failure is about. There are multiple facets to consider and orchestrate. The concept of constructive failure must be baked into a course and it has to be carefully designed and executed. There is also no one-way or one right-way. There are solid concepts and overreaching processes to consider, but the details will vary with every instance.
In one course that was designed almost 100% on constructive failure principles, there was a clear and obvious progression that could be seen during the term – as students went from ad hoc and chaos to systematic skill use and development. Do students get less fish to eat during the term? Yes. Is there less book knowledge to memorize and test for? Yes. But, they will learn how to fish and how to create their own kit to fish with. They also learn how to deal with other situations similar to the challenges faced when being told ‘go get a fish’.
It is like allowing a graduate student explore dead-ends and make mistakes in their research along their path. They need to understand what dead-ends look like and how to deal with them. They need to understand what bad research is, how to recognize it, and how to avoid it. Same principles. You have to let your students fail (in a controlled way, on a test track, where they will not get harmed or harm others).
It is suggested that students should be exposed to constructive failure in their first term, as introducing in later years is problematic. Before the habits related to always getting the fish, filleted and cooked on a plate have been formed. It is also suggested that junior instructors avoid this method unless they have a very sympathetic department and lots of support. It is one of the techniques that most students hate at the time but love later. It is one of the most effective methods that can be used, if not the most effective, but it does have its risks.
