Positive classroom´s error climate improves effective learning environments

A favorable error climate can support learning from errors and hence foster learning progress. Dres Gabriele Steuer and Markus Dressel investigated the factor structure of classroom´s error climate and explored different error climate patterns. The study appeared in "Psychological Test and Assessment Modeling" (formerly Psychologische Beiträge) 2-2015.

The subscales of a positive error climate are:

Error tolerance by the teacher
Irrelevance of errors for assessment
Teacher support following errors
Absence of negative teacher reactions
Absence of negative classmate reactions
Taking the error risk
Analysis of errors
Functionality of errors for learning

The study "underpins the adequacy and usefulness of considering not only an overall measure of classroom error climate but also its various subfacets. The typical patterns found in the present study under an exploratory focus differed particularly with respect to two error climate dimensions that deal with classmate reactions following errors - namely the absence of negative classmate reactions and the degree to which students took the error risk.

This can be interpreted through variations in the amount of control a teacher has over the different error climate facets. While the remaining six subdimensions of error climate are more or less under the direct control of teachers, the two subdimensions that deal with classmate reactions are only indirectly controllable by teachers..."

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Positive classroom´s error climate improves effective learning environments

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