Tracing outcomes of learning from errors on the level of knowledge

Abstract

Existing research on informal learning from errors focuses primarily on prerequisites and processes of such learning, and thereby widely neglects an important perspective: the investigation of outcomes of learning from errors. Studies engaging in this perspective could contribute to resolving current problems of error-related research. In particular, light could be shed on how employees’ ability to anticipate errors is based on prior error-related learning, how lessons learned from errors are transferred into future practice and the possible counter-productivity of such lessons. One relevant approach with regard to the identified explanatory gaps is the theory of negative knowledge. This is understood as employees’ knowledge about what is wrong or about what not to do. Negative knowledge is assumed to be acquired through learning from errors, to be represented in script structures and to be helpful for avoiding actions which are known to yield poor outcomes. One challenge for research on negative knowledge is that this approach provides only an indirect explanation for how problems are actually solved; moreover, measuring an actor’s negative knowledge may be complicated due to incidental variations in the formulation of given statements. In the light of these challenges, we conclude that future studies on outcomes of learning from errors on the level of knowledge should research negative knowledge in its embeddedness in structures of experiential knowledge. Moreover, the pertinent sociocultural context should be considered and performance measures should be used comparatively with verbal accounts of actors’ error-related knowledge.