Chapter 6: Productive failure in Coding and Robotics: Fostering self-directed and entrepreneurial learning

This chapter explores the abilities and skills that emerged from integrating productive failure with cooperative pair programming during an introductory Coding and Robotics (C&R) course within Computer Applications Technology (CAT) education. It then explores how the abilities and skills connect to self-directed learning (SDL) and entrepreneurial learning (EL). Coding and Robotics (a school subject in South African schools), known for its inherent complexity, often involves addressing and overcoming logical and syntactical errors. These challenges necessitate the development of SDL, where students take responsibility for acquiring the knowledge and skills required to debug and refine their code. Entrepreneurial learning skills, such as creativity, collaboration and persistence, are essential for solving complex challenges that arise from failure. The sample population was 42 fourth-year CAT education students from two different campuses of a South African university. Non-random, convenience sampling was applied, and after all students were invited to participate in the research, 37 students consented to participate. A basic interpretative qualitative research design was followed. In the first week, participants were introduced to C&R by working on solvable problems in cooperative pair-programming groups. In the second week, participants had to solve problems that were specifically compiled to anticipate failure. Guided self-reflection documents were used as data-gathering methods, and thematic data analysis was applied. The research concluded that incorporating productive failure with cooperative pair programming fostered SDL and EL. More research is required in different contexts with larger populations before the research can be generalised to other contexts.