When designing for productive failure, craft challenging problems that test the limits of your students’ abilities, then let them struggle for 30–45 minutes before providing direct instruction, says learning scientist Manu Kapur. A 2012 study shows this can double their comprehension, versus students who learn from direct instruction only. 

Now a new study suggests that letting kids debate topics prior to instruction is one relatively easy way to get started with productive failure exercises.

When sixth graders from Santiago de Chile got to argue about various evolutionary science scenarios—“Why do insecticides become less efficient at eliminating flies in a barn?” for example—in advance of teacher instruction, the study authors concluded that “all students improved considerably from pre- to post-tests, even before the teacher-led session” about evolution.

A chance to pre-debate—to justify, dispute, and reframe their thinking before the formal lesson even starts—may prime kids to engage more deeply with challenging new concepts.