Students learn more effectively when they make mistakes while trying to figure out the correct answers to questions, according to researchers profiled in the latest issue of Scientific American.
The research shows that if students make errors while trying answer questions, they remember the information better than in a control condition in which they simply study the information.
This study helps explain why teachers and students find Merit Software to be extremely effective as a curriculum supplement.
The design of Merit learning programs incorporates a variety of features that help students figure out answers to questions.
In particular, in Merit’s Basic English Fitness, Grammar Fitness and Vocabulary Fitness students learn essential English language concepts by finding common errors in sentences.
The software gives students multiple opportunities through different scenarios to answer questions. Built-in hints and tips help students while they work. In most questions learners are given an explanation to their answer, whether their response is right or wrong.
Furthermore, the Fitness programs are self-paced, and self-advancing. The programs progressively place students in the appropriate level of challenge.