Vocational education programs should let trainees experience and reflect on authentic errors, e.g. via error management training and negative knowledge-diaries¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 3 claims (2 for, 1 against) · 3 studies (2 theoretical, 1 quant-synthesis), q1–q4 · 1 of 3 report an effect size · 3 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The article recommends that "vocational education programs should give trainees opportunities to experience authentic, complex and challenging errors, to learn from them and to thus build up negative knowledge". Error management training, in which errors are encouraged and consciously utilized as part of learning, is an interesting approach with shown beneficial effects especially for complex tasks. Practically, trainees could keep negative knowledge-diaries, whose "what not to do" statements could be compiled into a guidebook to catastrophe.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Opportunities to experience authentic, complex and challenging errors and reflect on them

Constraints¶

• The article cites studies showing benefits especially when complex tasks are to be developed

Target Learners¶

• trainees in vocational and professional education programs

Target Learning Goals¶

• building negative knowledge
• learning from errors
• post-training performance on complex tasks

Claims¶

• Negative knowledge supports three functions in professional work: certainty, efficiency, and reflection [+W]
• Reflection interventions in higher education have a medium positive average effect on learning that varies with duration, peer interaction and the reflective activity used [+M]
• Errorless discrimination training avoids emotional responses and yields more effective transfer than errorful training (Terrace's pigeon studies) [-W]

Related Strategies¶

• After instruction, have students practice designing deliberately invalid experiments, explain and correct their own errors, and optionally exchange designs with peers for spot-explain-fix discussion
• Make reflection on students' goal preferences a recurring element of the curriculum to support cooperative learning

Examples¶

-

Key Sources¶

• M. Gartmeier, J. Bauer, H. Gruber, H. Heid. (2008). Negative Knowledge: Understanding Professional Learning and Expertise. Vocations and Learning. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12186-008-9006-1