Confusion
can be beneficial for learning: study
Most of us
assume that confidence and certainty are preferred over uncertainty and
bewilderment when it comes to learning complex information. But a new study led
by Sidney D’Mello of the University of Notre Dame shows that confusion when
learning can be beneficial if it is properly induced, effectively regulated and
ultimately resolved.
The study
will be published in a forthcoming issue of the journal Learning and Instruction.
Notre Dame
psychologist and computer scientist D’Mello, whose research areas include
artificial intelligence, human-computer interaction and the learning sciences,
together with Art Graesser of the University of Memphis, collaborated on the
study, which was funded by the National Science Foundation.
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