There is considerable interest in Productive Failure as a design approach that increases learning in the long term. At the same time, some criticisms of Productive Failure exist focusing on the replicability of trials and potential conflict with cognitive load theory. However, little appears to be written about the experiences of young people during a lesson where failure has been planned as part of the learning process. Therefore, through a close-to-practice partnership between a teacher and a University researcher, we sought to gain insight into how students felt during a mathematics lesson based around the principles of Productive Failure.

Our study draws on the insights of a class of high-attaining students, aged between 12 and 13, from a school in the East Midlands of England. During our talk we provide summary details of the lesson design, and explain the data collection methods we utilised throughout the lesson to provide a snapshot of student feelings. These insights into students’ anxiety, confidence and enjoyment are triangulated alongside examples of attempts to solve the mathematics problem.

Our interpretations indicate that whilst the individuals experience of PF is varied across the class, overall, we see it as a valuable component of the learning journey. Most strikingly we note the value students placed on the assemblage phase of the lesson where new thinking is introduced, and learning brought together. We therefore suggest that Productive Failure, and a deeper consideration of the assemblage phase, should be more prominent in an effective mathematics teacher’s lesson planning toolkit.

Keywords: Productive failure, mathematics, close-to-practice.