Productive Failure as a Method for Learning about Effective Collaborative Problem Solving

Abstract

Collaborative Problem Solving (CPS) skills are receiving increased attention in the current workforce and in lifelong learning. In learning and labor contexts, successful teamwork is however not always guaranteed, due to several reasons, such as an unequal level of individual participation. Training in CPS for all groups is therefore needed. However, resources for CPS competence development are scarce. As part of our project entitled Supporting Teamwork in Ambient Learning Spaces (STEAMS), we, therefore, designed an interactive professional training on CPS, in which CPS is perceived both as a method and as a goal. In this paper, we outline the design process of our CPS training along with some crucial decisions we needed to make, and we aim to illustrate how implementing productive failure in the learning design can foster adults’ CPS-competencies development.