Do students learn more from failing alone or in groups? Insights into the effects of collaborative versus individual problem solving in productive failure

Abstract

Productive Failure (PF) is an instructional design that implements a problem-solving phase which aims at preparing students for learning from a subsequent instruction. PF has been shown to facilitate students’ conceptual knowledge acquisition in the mathematical domain. Collaboration has been described as a vital design component of PF, but studies that have investigated the role of collaboration in PF empirically so far, were not able to confirm the necessity of collaboration in PF. However, these studies have diverged significantly from prior traditional PF studies and design criteria. Therefore, the role of collaboration in PF remains unclear. In an experimental study that is based on the traditional design of PF, we compared a collaborative and an individual problem-solving setting. It was hypothesized that collaboration facilitates the beneficial preparatory mechanisms of the PF problem-solving phase: prior knowledge activation, awareness of knowledge gaps, and recognition of deep features. In a mediation analysis, the effects of collaborative and individual problem solving on conceptual knowledge acquisition as mediated through the preparatory mechanisms were tested. In contrast to the hypotheses, no mediations or differences between conditions were found. Thus, collaboration does not hold a major preparatory function in itself for the design of PF.

Explore first approach in a virtual and immersive learning environment with ChatGPT

“…This pedagogical approach is also known as productive failure because initial problem-solving efforts may lead to failure or suboptimal solutions (Sharples, 2019). Productive failure is a pedagogical approach that incorporates a problem-solving phase to help students prepare for learning from subsequent instructions (Brand et al, 2023). Explore first represents a broader version of productive failure, where students first explore a complex topic in small groups and then receive direct instruction.…”

“…This method can be implemented in traditional classrooms, online settings, or both (Sharples, 2019). In productive failure collaboration has been described as vital (Brand et al, 2023). Loibl et al (2017) present three reasons to elucidate how participating in Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies, 2024 Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies, 14(3), e202435…”

Post-Pandemic Student Reception of Flipped Classrooms in Civil Engineering Education

“…We also follow a partner, or complementary, pedagogical approach in some class sessions in the flipped paradigm, the productive failure method. The productive failure method [14][15][16], is like the active learning approach except the walkthrough of the concept is after the activity rather than before. In our implementation of flipped classrooms, we also have some class sessions that are more conventional in nature and a characterized by more passive instruction and working of examples.…”

Ungraded Classrooms: A Pattern for Learning in Engineering Modeled after Expert Practitioners

“…Many pedagogical tools have been proposed to help the educator with this mission. Ranging from Active Learning [6][7][8], Productive Failure [9][10][11], Flipped Classrooms [12][13][14], Specifications Grading [15][16][17], Contract Grading [18][19][20], Mastery Grading [21][22][23], The 85% rule for optimal learning [24][25][26], to a litany of other tools and techniques, means and methods. When examining these pedagogical approaches, we find that individually, each has significant merit, yet can be added to for us as a profession to reach the ultimate potential that lays in engineering education.…”