Students being set up to make mistakes in class through an error-eliciting task

Abstract

In order for students to develop a better understanding and the skills to question future work, a session is introduced into a teaching workshop which sets students up to make common mistakes within a topic are more often made by blindly following procedural methods. The students’ views on these mistakes and how they found the error-eliciting task were gained through focus groups on the day of the activity. Factors such as knowing whether they had the right answer and the amount of staff involvement were discussed. In a follow-on focus group two weeks after the session, there were indications that the session had an impact on how they worked generally as there was more discussion within class and a shift in views about making mistakes.