Productive Failure for Mathematics Education

Mathematics is a difficult subject, in part due to the abstract nature of its concepts. While lectures work for certain students, research demonstrates that learning by lecture is ineffective or inadequate for most learners.

Recent research on this topic has demonstrated that instruction can be more effective if students are engaged in collaborative problem-solving activities prior to instruction. These “Productive Failure” activities typically lead to suboptimal solutions, yet this “failure” prepares students for deeper understanding and more efficient learning during subsequent instruction. By laying the groundwork for a broader university implementation of productive failure, this project brings together learning scientists and mathematics teachers to design Productive Failure-based activities in the teaching of linear algebra to first-year Engineering students.