Why mistakes matter: what science offers about the way people learn
- Maha R
- Oct 11, 2017
- 1 min read
By Claudia Wallis, The Hechinger ReportJULY 26, 2017
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Once a month, this column will examine the insights that science offers about the way people learn, and how such findings could influence schools.
Most of us can remember a moment like this from our school years: the teacher poses a question – maybe it’s math, maybe history. You raise your hand, you give your answer with full assurance. And then? You’re shot down. You got it wrong.
We remember moments like this because they brim with some of our least favorite emotions: shame, humiliation, self-recrimination, and that gutting sense that you want to melt into the floor. Ah yes, I remember it well.
As it turns out, though, such moments are ripe with learning opportunity. Contrary to what many of us might guess, making a mistake with high confidence and then being corrected is one of the most powerful ways to absorb something and retain it.
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