TCEF 2025: about Productive Failure

Keynote address: Productive Failure and the Future of Teaching and Learning [LINK]

My Takeaway(s): 

(1) Where to find the right juncture to implement Productive Failure? 

It comes down to identifying the point where the learner reaches the limits of their current knowledge or skills — not too far beyond what they can already do. This is where the zone of proximal development is key. The aim is to determine the specific missing information that prevents the learner from succeeding, while ensuring the task remains within reach through their own effort. The challenge should feel achievable enough to sustain their willingness to engage.

(2) What is the ultimate intent or outcome of Productive Failure that benefits learners? What aptitudes and traits are developed through the process? 

In today’s VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) world, students need key capabilities to navigate challenges beyond school. Productive Failure is about the intentional design of learning experiences where learners encounter and work through failure — not to avoid it, but to learn how to fail effectively. Through this process, they develop the ability to use failure as a springboard for learning, building resilience and adaptability. Ultimately, they acquire the capacity to respond to setbacks by applying their skills and thinking critically to struggle through and find solutions.

(3) How should we handle Generative AI in learning with care?  

Since its introduction, Generative AI has demonstrated its potential to personalise learning experiences for students. One of its greatest strengths is its ability to customise content to match learners’ levels, enabling them to progress at an appropriate pace.  

However, this very strength raises an important concern. By creating a smooth and seamless learning journey, might we be depriving learners of opportunities to struggle and confront failure? Without these experiences, students may miss out on developing essential traits — such as courage, resilience, and the ability to respond effectively when faced with challenges. 

This invites us to reflect: is such an easy learning path ultimately beneficial?

[My notes] 

Keynote seminar: Practical Design Principles of Productive Failure

My Takeaway(s)

(1) Task Design

• Only one example was used, but it was a powerful one that clearly illustrates what a well-structured Productive Failure (PF) task looks like. 
• Context: Students are about to learn the concept of standard deviation. 
• The problem itself does not mention standard deviation explicitly. 
• Instead, it is designed as a solvable task where students can apply a range of strategies and prior knowledge — for example, calculating averages or using visual representations (such as charts) to identify patterns. 
• The critical feature of this task is that although students’ solutions may seem plausible, these approaches ultimately fall short of producing a sound or reasonable conclusion. 
• Learning point: (1) A PF task is not simply about offering multiple ways to approach a problem or generate various solutions or visualisations. (2) To be effective, it must lead students to a point where they pause and recognise the limitations of their prior knowledge — creating the need and readiness for new learning.

(2) Addressing the Emotive/ Affective aspect

• Students need to be prepared to learn how to fail. While this may sound counterintuitive, it is essential to prevent the perception that tasks are designed simply to make them fail without purpose. 
• Instead, students should understand the true intent — to build resilience and support growth.  
• It is important to help students see how to enter this productive failure zone, and how to progress through it using the supports available (e.g. peers, resources that help turn errors into solutions). 
• We must actively address and help manage the anxiety and stress that may arise, so students feel safe to engage with the challenge.  

Last but not least, one reassuring point from Dr Manu is that it typically takes at least a year to work through this process — to see progress in crafting Productive Failure tasks effectively and implementing them successfully.

[My notes]