In the field of university education, fostering student proactivity is a major theme. To cultivate students who can think, act, and engage with learning independently, simply imparting knowledge and skills is insufficient. The key lies in how to stimulate students' intrinsic motivation to step forward in their own learning.
The key to this is creating an environment where it's "okay to make mistakes." For students to express their thoughts, take action, and grow through experiences that sometimes don't go well, an environment that alleviates the fear of failure is essential.
Many students have learned to prioritize "not making mistakes" and "answering correctly" from their experiences with high school entrance exams and regular tests. In evaluation systems where answers are compared against model solutions, failure tends to be treated as a negative. Consequently, many students feel a strong hesitation to say "I don't understand" or to preface their remarks with "It might be different, but...". Such psychological brakes are a major factor hindering active engagement in learning.
Psychological Safety Fosters the Drive to Challenge
The feeling of "it's okay to make mistakes" is deeply connected to psychological safety. Psychological safety refers to a state where one can express thoughts and feelings without fear of criticism or ridicule. When such safety is ensured, students become proactive in trial and error and can accept failure itself as a "learning opportunity."
It is important for faculty not only to explicitly state "mistakes are welcome here" but also to actually evaluate students' failures and trial-and-error processes positively and to praise their efforts. If there is an atmosphere among students where they respond with "That's an interesting perspective" or "Tell me how you thought about that" instead of negation, the overall safety of the environment will be further enhanced.
The Moment Failure Transforms into Learning
The important thing is not just to tolerate failure, but to design a process that transforms it into learning. For example, if a student's hypothesis in a group discussion contradicts the data, the instructor can ask, "Why did you think that? Please tell me the basis for your reasoning." This creates an opportunity for the student to reconstruct their own thought process. Furthermore, when group members provide feedback to each other like "There's another perspective," the discussion deepens, and the quality of learning improves.
Thus, when failure triggers dialogue and deepens thinking, students come to realize that "making mistakes is part of learning."
Reflection is Time to Create "Future Engagement"
To truly learn from failure, reflection after an activity is indispensable. The essence of reflection is not "evaluating the past," but rather a time to redesign one's engagement and learning approach for the future.
- Verbalization of events: Articulate what happened and how you felt.
- Analysis of causes and factors: Delve into "why it happened" and "which actions of myself or others influenced it."
- Metacognitive awareness: Become aware of your thought and behavior patterns, and develop a concrete stance like "Next time, I'll try this."
- Setting action plans: Decide on new ways of engaging to try in the next learning or group activity, and stimulate intrinsic motivation.
When such reflection is shared not only individually but also within the entire group, opportunities to gain new insights from others' perspectives increase, and learning deepens further. Faculty play a role in consistently facilitating this reflection cycle by posing questions and encouraging critical thinking.
The Role of Faculty in Creating and Supporting the Environment
In creating an environment where "it's okay to make mistakes," faculty are required to be more than mere knowledge transmitters. First, they must demonstrate their own stance as continuous learners who ask questions. By acting as a "partner who thinks and explores together" rather than a possessor of perfect answers, they provide students with the security to challenge themselves.
Furthermore, the ability to facilitate by asking questions with genuine interest in students' trial-and-error processes, rather than immediately evaluating their attempts, is indispensable. Specifically, the following support is effective:
- Setting Expectations: Explicitly state that "challenges in this environment are subject to evaluation."
- Process-Oriented Feedback: Focus on "how they thought and acted" rather than just the outcome, and provide specific comments.
- Designing Reflection: Regularly incorporate reflection sheets and sharing sessions, and prepare questions that promote metacognition.
- Fostering a Sense of Security: Design group work that cultivates a culture where students support each other's failures.
Through these efforts, faculty become facilitators who prepare the educational ground for students to safely make mistakes and leverage them for learning.
"Freedom to Fail" Fosters the Power to Challenge
Challenge and failure are two sides of the same coin. The freedom to fail brings the courage to try new ideas and methods. In university education, for students to explore their own answers and step into unknown territories, this "freedom to fail" is a prerequisite.
This freedom is nurtured through a learning community based on trust between faculty and peers. By fostering a culture where mutual trial and error is supported and failures are celebrated, students can continue to challenge themselves with confidence.
Conclusion
A place where "it's okay to make mistakes" is not just a comfortable space for students. It is the groundwork for students to step into a proactive learning process where they independently pose questions, experiment, think, reflect, and connect to the next stage. Supporting students to boldly challenge and continue learning within the time and space of a university is precisely what is demanded of universities in the coming era.
Published: July 28, 2024
Author: Masato Otsuka