Learning From Errors – The Effect of Comparison Prompts in Instruction After Problem Solving Settings

Abstract

Students, who engage in problem-solving activities targeting yet to-be-learned concepts, usually generate erroneous or incomplete solution attempts. These erroneous solution attempts can form the basis for acquiring valid target concepts during subsequent instruction. Literature on conceptual change as well as studies on ‘productive failure’ indicate that elaborating on typical errors and comparing these erroneous solution attempts to correct solutions may be crucial for learning in these settings. We compared three conditions in an experimental study: Students of all conditions first engaged in an identical problem-solving activity. Afterwards students worked on elaboration tasks that introduced correct solutions. In this so-called instruction phase, students worked with 1) only correct solutions, 2) correct and typical erroneous solution attempts, 3) correct and typical erroneous solution attempts with prompts to compare these attempts. Posttest results indicate that only students who were prompted to compare the solution attempts significantly benefited from learning with erroneous solution attempts.