contributed by Dr. Zak Cohen
In 2009, President Obama spoke to a group of students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia.
As someone who had readily and unapologetically admitted his youthful mistakes and how those missteps had influenced the adult he had become, he humbly but stridently impressed upon his audience the importance of learning from mistakes . “You can’t let your failures define you: you have to let them teach you” (Obama, 2009). Anyone listening to this speech will invariably agree with President Obama’s rhetoric.
However, these knowing winks mask the long and complex relationship that error has with education in the United States.
Following research in the 1920s, errors were widely seen as problems that should be eradicated from our classrooms. In 1922, associationist theory of mathematics began to cultivate the belief that errors result from a lack of practice and mastery of numerical facts (Thorndike and Woodyard, 1922).
What research says about learning from mistakes
These findings became further ingrained in the collective psyche of American educators in the 1960s when Terrace (1966) showed that “pigeons could learn to discriminately peck at a red circle as opposed to a green circle by being reinforced in such a way.” way that they never peck.” the green circle, that is to say the pigeons functioned without error” (Terrace, 2001, p. 9). This discovery, whether correctly interpreted or not, pushed education toward an error-free model of teaching, the idea being that if a bird can learn to eliminate its errors, so can a child.
Later in the decade, Ausubel (1968) codified this emerging interpretation by warning of the dangers that errors present to the learning process, suggesting that “allowing (students) to make errors encourages them to practice incorrect and ineffective approaches that will cause problems because they are inappropriate.” difficult to crush later with correct approaches” (Ausubel, 1968, p. 25). To some extent, there is logic to this idea that making mistakes will strengthen and consolidate the neural pathways responsible for that erroneous thinking; however, current research has concluded exactly the opposite.
See also Ways to Help Students Learn From Their Mistakes
The importance of learning from mistakes finds wide resonance in literature and throughout the world. Studies in the Philippines, Germany and Hong Kong conclude that there is a strong correlation between making mistakes and learning, with one study in the United States of America even stating that “an unjustified reluctance to engaging in errors has held back American education.” (DeBrincat, 2015; Metcalfe, 2017; Quieng et al., 2015; Song, 2018).
Contemporary research asserts that “. . . making mistakes can greatly facilitate new learning. . . improve the generation of correct responses, facilitate active learning (and) stimulate the learner to direct their attention appropriately. . .” (Metcalfe, 2017, p. 472). In fact, although it may not be intuitive, Richland et al. (2009) found that error generation is positively correlated with improved memory.
Errors occur at the limits of knowledge and experience; thus, errors should not be accepted solely as a byproduct of learning. Mistakes are not only instructive; they are the keyhole that offers honest insight into the unique nature of a protean mechanism like learning (Lewis, 2017). In fact, humans are already predisposed to learning from their mistakes.
The neuroscience of making mistakes
When a person makes an error, subsequent action is delayed by a phenomenon called post-error slowing (PES). PES refers to the tendency of individuals to slow down on a current trial after making an error on a previous trial (Rabbitt & Rodgers, 1977). Rabbitt and Rodgers (1977) found that when engaging in an activity that was performed in error, successive actions are delayed, allowing participants time to employ corrective action.
A 2018 study by researchers at the California Institute of Technology found that errors trigger a nearly instantaneous chain reaction of productive brain activity. Researchers have discovered that even before one is aware of their error, a set of neurons – dubbed “error neurons” – begin to fire (Fu et al., 2019). In rapid succession, “the brain of a person who makes a mistake lights up with the type of activity that encodes information more deeply,” helping to ensure that the same mistake is not made on a subsequent attempt (Fu et al., 2019, p. 172).
Another interesting and related brain process triggered by errors involves the release of dopamine. Dopamine is released when students answer questions correctly and are aware of their correctness, either through external and internal monitoring mechanisms. Conversely, when errors occur, dopamine levels decrease, but this decrease in dopamine triggers another response, which is that the brain seeks corrective feedback and adaptation of new information to avoid a drop in dopamine at the future, “essentially changing the incorrect neural networks and increasing the likelihood of giving a correct answer next time” (McMillan, 2017, p. 91).
Despite the many ways in which the human body and brain seek to learn from their mistakes, “human beings, who are almost the only ones with the capacity to learn from their mistakes…”. . are also notable for their apparent reluctance to do so” (Whitman, 2016, p. 81). This is attributable to the sociocultural dimension that prevents the adoption and implementation of these adaptive responses.
Mistakes and emotions
People have been socialized and, in turn, internalized mistakes as something to avoid (Fischer et al., 2006). It’s also quite common to be afraid of making mistakes. “Teachers grade us for mistakes on tests, bosses often scold us (and worse) for taking risks, and religions can condemn us if we commit a sin or take the wrong path” (Tugend & London , 2011, p. 180). People’s aversion to error is evidenced by the fact that people, on the whole, prefer less optimal learning outcomes as it allows them to avoid making a mistake. error.
Huelser (2014) sought to educate study participants about “the usefulness of learning from making mistakes”, but found that even when participants’ attention was drawn to the increased retention resulting from employment of study techniques that required the generation of errors, the lack of confidence of the participants. in their ability to learn from their mistakes (Huelser, 2014, p. 27).
Similarly, a 2017 study found that even when study participants’ attention was drawn to the benefits of error generation when retrieving information from memory, participants in the study continued to prioritize less effective study strategies that did not involve making errors (Yang et al., 2017). ). This negative reaction to error seems to suggest that people would prefer not to dip their toes into the murky waters of demanding learning, even if generating errors actually improves learning outcomes.
A 2019 study sought to understand why by explaining medical students’ feelings about mistakes. The study found that medical students reported powerful emotional reactions when asked to simply visualize making mistakes. These medical students used words such as “scared,” “guilty,” “embarrassed,” “fearful,” and “scary” to describe the visualization exercise (Fischer et al., 2006, p. 420). The distress these students verbalized is not unique to them.
In fact, the fear of error is widespread enough to warrant its own diagnosis in medical nomenclature: atychiphobia. Even if this fear is a formless specter, it is nonetheless very real. The fear of failure is deeply ingrained. Researchers know that when students with math anxiety encounter numbers, for example, “a fear center in the brain is activated – the same fear center that lights up when people see snakes or spiders.” » (Boaler, 2019, p. 122). The problem is that this fear not only keeps students in the present, but prevents them from actively realizing their future.
Literacy of errors in class
For students to be prepared to navigate an uncharted future, they will need to be willing to make mistakes and be able to learn from them (Scharmer, 2016). An error-infused learning process most models “the messy, exciting, and frustrating process in which discoveries are made and innovation occurs” (Eggleton & Moldavan, 2001, p. 43). Whether transitioning to a new career or acclimating to the breakneck pace of technological advancement, the question is not whether mistakes will be made, but whether mistakes can serve as instruments for change. learning.
So how can we, as educators, create the conditions for our students to develop the toolkit they need to reliably convert their mistakes into lessons? Well, that’s where error control comes in.
Schools are complex, human-centered organizations that are influenced by a multitude of factors, including environmental, personal, and behavioral elements that shape learning. While many people inherently understand the value of learning from their mistakes, the environment and expectations of educational settings often favor a contrary approach, discouraging their recognition and exploration.
Research indicates, however, that there are concrete classroom strategies that can mitigate these negative effects, thereby fostering an environment in which mistakes are not feared but viewed as opportunities for growth. This is where error control comes into play.
Error mastery provides a framework that allows teachers and students to accept errors as an essential part of the learning process. By implementing the strategies and dispositions outlined in error mastery, educators can create the optimal conditions for students to recognize, respond to, and repair their errors.
Mistake Literacy aims to demystify the process of learning from mistakes, making it clear and accessible. This approach not only promotes a healthier attitude toward learning, but also lays the foundation for future educational endeavors. Through error mastery, the path to learning intertwines with accepting and examining one’s mistakes, transforming mistakes into mastery.
