Derring effect and deliberate erring as a guided-error learning approach within the Prevention–Permission–Promotion (3P) framework¶

Design · All designs
Evidence · 2 claims (2 for) · 1 study (1 causal), q3 · 1 of 1 report an effect size · 2 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The derring effect is a counterintuitive phenomenon in which "deliberate erring has been found to enhance learning", implemented by having students intentionally generate a plausible conceptual error, then strike it out and correct it. The article situates it in Wong and Lim's (2019b) 3P framework, under which "errors in learning can be observed, allowed, induced, or guided when not avoided": learning from others' invalid designs involves observing errors, whereas deliberate erring guides students into making and correcting their own errors in low-stakes contexts after correct instruction. Candidate mechanisms include failure-driven learning, development of negative knowledge, suppression of incorrect pathways, attention to correction, and structural alignment between incorrect and correct responses.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

Deliberate errors must be generated after instruction on the correct principles and in low-stakes practice contexts, as in the study's open-book practice with a principles handout

Constraints¶

The article states the benefits are specific to guiding students to commit and correct their own errors, since observing and correcting others' errors does not yield the same extent of gains

Target Learners¶

university students

Learning Goals¶

experimental design principles
scientific reasoning
transfer of domain-general principles

Claims¶

Examples¶

-

Key Sources¶

Sarah Shi Hui Wong. (2026). Deliberate erring improves scientific reasoning: Learning experimentation skills by intentionally designing invalid experiments. Instructional Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11251-026-09819-x

Page metadata

Field	Value
`type`	`design`
`id`	`derring-effect-deliberate-erring-framework`
`title`	`Derring effect and deliberate erring as a guided-error learning approach within the Prevention–Permission–Promotion (3P) framework`
`description`	`The derring effect is a counterintuitive phenomenon in which "deliberate erring has been found to enhance learning", implemented by having students intentionally generate a plausible conceptual error, then strike it o...`
`status`	`review`
`generated`	by `process:settle-candidates` on `2026-10-18`
`trust`	unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content
`sources`	1 — `sarah-shi-hui-wong-2026`

Frontmatter is the page's machine-readable record — see the Schema & Guide.