Productive Failure

How do people learn and apply newfound knowledge to solve novel problems? Learning scientist Manu Kapur believes four principles should guide thinking about learning:

1. “Seeing versus encoding” – Imagine watching a soccer game with Manchester United manager José Mourihno. Are you observing the same match? Although you both receive the same “perceptual stimuli,” Mourihno, an expert, notices aspects of the game that your untrained eye can’t discern. Experts often attempt to impart knowledge that novices don’t yet have the experience to grasp. Therefore, an expert’s primary job isn’t to teach but to prepare others to see...