RunningHead:FAILUREASALEARNINGMODE

FailureasaLearningMode:
PolicyRecommendationsforSolvingWickedProblems
DawnDrysdale
MeganSexton
StacySutter
JustinThibedeau
MichiganStateUniversity

FAILUREASALEARNINGMODE

Truthbuildsonfailureasmuchassuccess.(NMC,2013)
Inventions,discoveries,andprogressareconsistentlytheresultofexplorationthrough
trialanderror.Learningfrommistakesandfailuresisnotjustcrucial,itisthelearningitself.
Numerousstudieshaveshown,ateachingmethodthatinvolvesinventionandproductivefailure
ismoreeffectivethandirectinstruction(Collins,2012,p.731).Why,thenareschoolssoaverse
tolettingstudentsfail?Thisinabilitytoembracefailurebegetsaproblemfortodayseducators.
Expertsagreethatfailureisaninevitableandproductivestepinthepathtosuccess(Gee,
2008,p.163),andwhenallowedtolearnfromtheirmistakes,studentshaveamuchgreater
abilitytodevelop(their)potential(Tugend,2011).Yetschoolsdonotreadilyembracefailure
asalearningmode,creatinga'wickedproblem'forteachers.KoehlerandMishra(2008)define
a'wickedproblem'byitschanging,contradictoryrequirements,andthesemutableelements
makeusingfailureasalearningmodeaconundrumforeducatorsandstudents.
Thefailureisnotanoptionconceptisreinforcedtostudentsthroughouttheir
educationalcareers.Theyaretrainedtobelievesuccessinschoolis...definedashighmarkson
tests.And...mistakesplaynopositiverole(Tugend,2011).Dutifulstudentsthenbecome
frustratedwhenoneteacherexpectsthemtodowhattheyvebeentrainedtodoeschewfailure,
andanotherasksthemtoembracefailuretolearnfromtheirmistakes.Sincetheideasare
contradictory,andfailingfeelsunnaturalandterrifying,studentsareunabletogaugethebenefit
oflearninginfailing.
Thisfailureavoidanceintheclassroomworkscounterintuitivelyfromfailureencountered
outsideofschool.Students,aspeople,areexpectedtofailcontinuallyasameanstolearning
babiescantwalkunlesstheyfall,artistsdontimprovewithoutpractice,andathletescantwin

FAILUREASALEARNINGMODE

unlesstheyunderstandhowtheylost.Outsideoftheeducationalsetting,failingmeanstryagain.
Ineducation,however,failureequatestoincompetencewithnosecondchancesanideology
makingchildrenfeartakinganychanceresultinginacademicfailure.
Pointbasedgradingsystemsreinforcethementalitythatmistakesservenopurposebut
tohighlightfailure(Tugend,2011)andpreventcommunicationvitaltoassessingandlearning
fromfailures.In2013,FreyandFisherfoundintoomanycases,thereisnoevidenceofany
advancementinlearning.Thestudentmadeallofthecorrections,onlytomakethesame
mistakesagain(Frey&Fisher,2013,p.66).Meaningunderapointbasedgradingsystem,
studentsdidnotengagewiththeirfailuresfixingthespecificproblemstheteacherhighlighted
forabettergradesupplantedunderstandingthemistakeseffect.
StandardsBasedGrading(SBG),ontheotherhand,allowsstudentstoembracefailure
withouttheoverwhelmingpressureofgettingitwrong.TheSBGsystemshiftsstudentsfocus
awayfrompointvaluesandpercentagesandpushesthemtocriticallyexaminetheirworkin
ordertoimprove.Ratherthanbeingassignedahollowlettergrade,studentsworkisassessedon
arubricmeasuringtheirlevelofunderstanding,orproficiency,ofeachapplicableobjectiveor
skill.Withtheinfusionofwebbasedassessmentplatforms,immediatefeedbackreplacesdays
oldpercentagepointsandwordsopenupcommunication,whereasnumberscloseitdown
(OConnor,2009,p.123).Forinstance,studentswhoaregivenimmediatefeedbackastowhich
answersareincorrectonatestaremuchmorewillingtorevisethanstudentswhoreceivealetter
gradedaysafterthetest.
Gee(2013)observesthatittakesthousandsofhoursofpracticeandpersistencepast
failuretobecomeexpertinanythingdeep,(p.163)andSBGencouragesstudentstoengagein

FAILUREASALEARNINGMODE

thatprocessofpersistence.UndertheSBGsystem,studentscontinuouslyreviseandreflecton
theirwork.Thismeaningfulreflectionleadstodevelopinggrowthmindsetsinwhichchallenges
andengaginginauthenticlearningareembraced(Dweck,2014)anuninspiringtalkonsound
waves,becomesadynamicpresentationnotonlywithimmediatefeedback,butalsorevisionof
rhetoricalappealsusageandreflectiononaudienceengagement.
AnothermethodofprovidingstudentspotentialfailureopportunitieslieswithDigital
GameBasedLearning(DGBL),applyinggameprinciplestootherdisciplinesinorderto
motivatetheachievementofgoals.DGBLrequiresstudentstomasterskillsthroughmultiple
lowstakesfailures,somethingalreadyconsiderednormalpracticeingamingandthereforenot
taboo.
Gamesprovidelearnerswithnearinfiniteattemptstoapplytheirknowledgetothesame,
orasimilar,problem(Gee,2009).Studies,likeAllanCollinsslookintoteachingproductive
failure,haveshownthisreapplicationtobetheoptimalmethodforlearningandunderstanding,
asthenumberofsolutionmethodsproducedduringaninventionphasesignificantlyaffects
studentsperformanceonconceptualunderstanding(Collins,2012,p.733).Inotherwords,the
morestudentswrestlewithaproblemandfail,onlytoreevaluateandattemptadifferent
approach,theclearertheproblemsunderlyingconceptsbecome.
Gaming,similartoSBG,alsosuppliestheimmediatefeedbackcriticalforsuccessfully
reevaluatingfailures.InDGBL,learnersinstantlyseetheresultsoftheiractionsandadjust
strategiesasneeded,themodeinwhichGeebelievespeoplelearnbest(Gee2009).Multiplayer
games,similartoeducationalgroupwork,encouragedialogueoverfailedexpectationsleadingto
adeeperunderstandingoftheproblemandthecomponentsneededforsuccess.

FAILUREASALEARNINGMODE

InleveragingDGBLsinherenttraitsoftrialanderrorandimmediatefeedback,educators
canassistlearnersinclarifyingandinterpretingfailuresinordertoformpersonalknowledge
generalizations,whichcanthenbeappliedtootherproblemsolvingtasks(Gee,2009,p.69).A
recentsurveyconductedbytheGamesandLearningPublishingCouncil,showDGBLlargely
benefitedstudentswhostruggledintraditionalschoolsituationsandtests.55%ofteachers
surveyed,whenaskedwhatgamequalitiestheyfoundmostbeneficial,reportedgamesmotivated
lowperformingandspecialeducationstudents(Takeuchi&Vaala,2014,p.50).Thoughthe
termfailureisnotusedinthesurvey,increasedmotivationmorphsintoagreaterwillingnessto
tryandpersistinthefaceofdifficultyorfailure.
Whenlookedatcorrectly,failurecanteachuswherewewentwronginthefirstplace,
andhowwecanlearntopickourselvesupagaininapursuittosucceed(DeWitt,2012).
StandardsBasedGradingandDigitalGameBasedLearning,aretwopossiblesolutionsforthe
currentfailureasalearningmodewickedproblem.Bothencouragestudentstotakerisks
withoutgraderepercussionsandpresentopportunitiestoapplymultiplesolutionstoachallenge.
Itistimetheeducationalsystemstraysfromconveyingthemessageoffailureasunacceptableto
allowingstudentstouncoveralternatewaystosucceedwhenfailureoccurs.Onlythenwillwe
beheedingthecounselofJamesPaulGeethatfailureisaninevitableprocessinthestepsto
success.

FAILUREASALEARNINGMODE

References

Collins,Alan.(2012).Whatisthemosteffectivewaytoteachproblemsolving?Acommentary
onproductivefailureasamethodofteaching.InstructionalScience.40:731735.

DeWitt,Peter.(January8.2012).TheBenefitsofFailure.RetrievedfromURL.
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/finding_common_ground/2012/01/the_benefits_of_failur
e.html

Dweck,Carol.(2014).CarolDweck:Thepowerofbelievingthatyoucanimprove[Online
Video].Retrievedfrom:
https://www.ted.com/talks/carol_dweck_the_power_of_believing
_that_you_can_improve?language=en

Frey,N.,&Fisher,D.(2013).Aformativeassessmentsystemforwritingimprovement.English
Journal,103(3),6671.

Gee,J.P.(2013).TheAntiEducationEra:CreatingSmarterStudentsthroughDigitalLearning.
McMillanUSA.

Gee,J.P.(2009).Deeplearningpropertiesofgooddigitalgames:Howfarcantheygo?.In
SeriousGames:MechanismsandEffects.(pp.6782).RoutledgeTaylor&Francis
Group.10.4324/9780203891650

Koehler,M.J.,&Mishra,P.(2008).IntroducingTPCK.InAACTECommitteeonInnovation
andTechnology(Ed.),HandbookofTechnologicalPedagogicalContentKnowledge
(TPCK)(pp.329).NewYork:Routledge.

NewMediaConsortium.(2013).TheFutureofEducationThe2013NMCHorizonProject
SummitCommuniqu.

OConnor,K.(2009).Howtogradeforlearning,K12(3rded.).ThousandOaks,CA:Corwin
Press.

Takeuchi,L.M.,&Vaala,S.(2014).Leveluplearning:Anationalsurveyonteachingwith
digitalgames.NewYork:TheJoanGanzCooneyCenteratSesameWorkshop.

Tugend,A.(2011,September06).TheRoleofMistakesintheClassroom.Retrieved
fromhttp://www.edutopia.org/blog/benefitsmistakesclassroomalinatugend