Active learning in the undergraduate laboratory: Giving students a safe space to experience low-stakes failure

As with COVID-19, and so with national and global economic, political and climate crises, it is our young people who are the most vulnerable. In the UK, young people are experiencing a mental health crisis, and schools and universities are reporting record low levels of student engagement. Here we present a case study from a large Foundation Year Biological Sciences module where we considered the potential for low-stakes failure teaching events to act as a tool for developing student confidence and resilience, whilst also developing scientific learning. Foundation Year university students had the opportunity to engage in a low-stakes formative laboratory session, where they developed their own microbiology experiments. This was followed by the opportunity to repeat the experiment three months later, as well as additional interactive workshops for analysis of the practical data and to reflect on their learning experience. The students took a variety of approaches to the practical experiment with the majority describing the experiment as a positive experience: 92% of student respondents felt the experience offered a safe space for experimenting with scientific techniques, and students reported developing subject-specific skills including pipetting, plating bacteria, experimental design, in addition to transferable skills such as teamwork, problem solving, and building confidence to try something new (experiment!). We discuss considerations for further research as well as the potential for embedding low-stakes failure within a programme of study within a Higher Education setting.