Learning through Failure across the Disciplines

From the social sciences to STEM to the humanities, failure is a fundamental part of the learning process even as it manifests differently in different disciplines. Failure is integral to the scientific method; it helps test hypotheses. In the humanities, a common experience of failure occurs when research sources do not yield expected data; it helps push researchers to ask better questions. No matter the discipline, failure can be a learning opportunity, but in educational contexts failure is often stigmatized. Students are rarely taught how to meaningfully engage with experiences of failure. We are part of a cross-disciplinary team, FLIP (Failure: Learning in Progress), that develops evidence-informed resources to help students and instructors learn from failure (see: www.LearningFromFailure.ca).

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