Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
publishedVersion
Publication Date
1-2019
Abstract
Errors are often perceived as undesirable events to be avoided at all costs. However, a growing body of research suggests that making errors is, in fact, beneficial for learning. Building on human resource development literature, the present review proposes a 3P framework of approaches to errors during learning: prevention (avoiding or observing errors), permission (allowing errors), and promotion (inducing or guiding errors). This framework is applied to examine and integrate the empirical evidence on errors that have been commonly investigated in cognitive, educational, and applied psychology research. The psychological mechanisms of each error approach are discussed, and implications for education are considered. This review then concludes by highlighting the ways in which the various error approaches interact with learner characteristics and learning contexts, as well as discussing the role of feedback in error correction and proposing directions for future research toward understanding how errors can be optimized in learning.
Keywords
Errors, Errorless learning, Error management training (EMT), Error correction, Generation effect, Discovery learning
Discipline
Social Psychology | Social Psychology and Interaction
Research Areas
Psychology
Publication
Educational Psychologist
Volume
54
Issue
1
First Page
1
Last Page
19
ISSN
0046-1520
Identifier
10.1080/00461520.2018.1501693
Publisher
Taylor and Francis Group
Citation
WONG, Sarah Shi Hui, & LIM, Stephen Wee Hun.(2019). Prevention-Permission-Promotion: A review of approaches to errors in learning. Educational Psychologist, 54(1), 1-19.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/4291
Copyright Owner and License
Publisher
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2018.1501693