Overcoming the perception of failure: helping students develop a constructive approach

Albert Einstein's often quoted rhetorical question “If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?” provides a comforting rationalization for the low rate of success in experimental research. Failed experiments are an inevitable consequence of probing the unknown. However, for students new to research, unsuccessful experiments can be surprisingly discouraging, at odds with the perception of routine experimental success that is promoted in the classroom by conduct of well‐established laboratory course exercises and presentations of final published versions of research advances. A constructive approach to overcoming failure pairs realistic expectations with strategies to optimize success. Failed experiments can often be attributed to one of two broad categories: technical flaws or inappropriate experimental design, the latter resulting either from lack of, or neglect of, existing knowledge about the system. Some fundamental and intuitive though often unheeded strategies for maximizing success of experiments by reducing technical and design flaws will be discussed.