The Success of Failure

I like what McGonigal has to say about failure. I agree that failing a number of times makes success that much sweeter. I definitely think that needs to be incorporated into the game. In fact I like the idea of making that the point. I’ve always been interested in scientific studies where volunteers believe they’re being tested for one thing when in fact, some completely different behavior is being observed. For example: We could have the students attempt a task that they will fall short of because we set it up that way. And once they’ve failed 5 times or tried 5 different approaches to it they will defeat the task. They won’t even realize the game they are playing until after they’ve won.

I also think a few of the tasks should be hard enough that you can’t get them the first time around except by complete luck. Learning to try different approaches when your initial attempt fails is vital to succeeding in college.