D’Mello and his research team identified three guiding principles for implementing confusion in the college classroom: it should be appropriate, intentional and in the context of learning; students should possess the ability to successfully resolve the confusion; and when students can’t resolve it on their own, there should be appropriate support for them. Why create confusion? The authors of the study say that “jolting” students away from passively receiving information makes them “focus attention, engage fully, think more deeply, and learn for mastery.” Author Sarah Cavanagh argues that we should manage the emotions – not just the content – in our classrooms.
Cavanagh, Sarah Rose. The Spark of Learning: Energizing the College Classroom with the Science of Emotion. West Virginia University Press, 2016, p. 137.