Confusion Can Be A Good Thing
Confusion is not itself beneficial, but rather a marker that an important cognitive process has taken place: The learner has appreciated some inconsistency or deficit in her prior beliefs. But another possibility is that confusion is itself a step toward learning — an experience that motivates the learner to reconcile an inconsistency or remedy some deficit. In this view, confusion isn’t just a side effect of beneficial cognitive processes, but a beneficial process itself. Supporting this stronger view, there’s evidence that experiencing difficulties in learning can sometimes be desirable, leading to deeper processing and better long-term memory. To read more on the interesting article from NPR, click here.