Why Failure is Essential for Student Learning

Students are frequently asked to achieve, on their first attempts, stellar results on high-stakes, high-pressure assessments. New research on the science of learning is beginning to show us that this strategy does not work well, though, because it is not how human beings naturally learn. We need to make mistakes before we can get the right answers. In this talk, I’ll be reviewing some of the most important findings in this new area of inquiry and suggesting ways that we can generate “opportunities for failure� in our courses so that our students may learn more effectively.

Josh Eyler is director of faculty development and director of the Thinkforward Quality Enhancement Plan at the University of Mississippi, where he is also on the faculty in the department of writing and rhetoric. He previously worked on teaching and learning initiatives at Columbus State University, George Mason University, and Rice University. His research interests include the biological basis of learning, evidence-based pedagogy, and disability studies, and he is the author of How Humans Learn: The Science and Stories behind Effective College Teaching (WVU, 2018).