“Productive Failure”: Why Early Floundering Leads to Better Learning

Intuitively, I think we approach teaching with the goal of helping students avoid failure. So it's natural to step in if we see students floundering about and approaching a problem the wrong way.

But what if we are hindering students' learning by stepping in too soon? Like stepping in too soon to help with spotting someone at the gym, or helping them too much on that last repetition.

We certainly don't want anyone to get hurt or discouraged, of course! But a 2011 study suggests that too much guidance and instruction in the learning process can lead to the illusion of better performance at first - but significantly "shallower" learning and worse performance in the long run.

Get all the nerdy details here: “Productive Failure”: Why Early Floundering Leads to Better Learning

More from The Bulletproof Musician

• Get the free weekly newsletter, for more nerdy details and bonus subscriber-only content.
• Pressure Proof: A free 7-day performance practice crash course that will help you shrink the gap between the practice room and the stage.
• Learning Lab: A continuing education community where musicians and learners are putting research into practice.
• Live and self-paced courses