Many students struggle with the discomfort of being a beginner. Trying something new or unfamiliar often means risking making a mistake, which can cause students to hesitate before even starting a task. Although disengagement in learning activities might seem like disinterest, it can also stem from fear of failure or lack of confidence. We can see this when students move from familiar assessment formats such as essays and reports to more creative or practical tasks that can feel outside their comfort zone.
I noticed this when I began teaching a practical digital marketing course that required students to produce digital media content instead of familiar written assessments. What initially appeared as disengagement was often reluctance to try and fail. Conversations with students revealed that this hesitation was often shaped by the narratives they told themselves about their abilities. Statements such as “I’m not creative” or “I’m not good with numbers” can quickly become self-fulfilling prophecy, influencing whether students attempt a task at all.
- What’s the crucial element for interdisciplinary teamwork? Psychological safety
- Six tips on helping your students improve their teamwork skills
- Are your students disengaging – or is it their personality type?
Helping students feel comfortable with being a beginner can improve both confidence and learning outcomes. When students understand that mistakes are a normal part of learning, they are more willing to experiment and build resilience. Here, we’ll focus on practical ways to help students move through the discomfort of being a beginner and build the confidence to try.
1. Language shifts to normalise the discomfort of being a beginner
Small shifts in language can help students feel safe to try. When students express limiting beliefs, simple responses can help to reframe how they see themselves as learners. Acknowledging the discomfort of learning something new is particularly important when introducing a new concept or piece of software. Acknowledging that a task might feel complex because it is new helps normalise uncertainty and reassures students that some initial confusion is a common part of learning. This encourages them to see this initial difficulty as part of the process, rather than evidence that they do not belong.
Another useful shift is using the word “yet” to emphasise that learning is a process. Phrases such as “you may not understand regression yet, but you were able to work through descriptive statistics last week” remind students of their progress and connect past success to current challenges. This helps them recognise that competence develops over time and through practice. Intentional language like this gives students permission to be beginners and supports the confidence to keep trying.
2. Guaranteed support after they try
Psychological safety is not about removing challenges in the classroom but about helping students attempt tasks knowing support will follow. When students feel reassured that guidance will come after their attempt at the task, they are more willing to begin and less concerned about getting things wrong.
In my data analytics classes, sometimes students hesitate to run statistical tests or interpret the output, often asking for the answer straight away. What I do is encourage them to attempt the analysis and draft an interpretation first, with the reassurance that we will review their thinking together in class or during consultations.
Maintaining a visible teacher presence ensures students do not feel abandoned when working through unfamiliar tasks and encourages them to trust their own thinking. Asking for an initial attempt also shifts the focus away from being correct immediately and towards simply getting started, which is often the biggest barrier to engaging in the task.
3. Build evidence of learning through scaffolding
Fear of trying often increases when too much is asked of students at once. Reduce this pressure by scaffolding learning so that skills develop progressively. Structuring tasks so that students complete part of the process, rather than creating something entirely from scratch, allows them to build confidence as they accumulate evidence of learning.
For example, when students use WordPress for the first time, I provide the written text and images and ask them to place these into an existing template. This allows them to focus on learning the platform without also generating original content. As they get more familiar with it, they move on to more complex tasks, such as developing and publishing a full blog post. Breaking the process into manageable stages enables them to experiment, make mistakes and build confidence before taking on more demanding work.
Extension activities can also encourage students to apply their skills in new contexts. This helps prepare them for the workplace, where they will regularly encounter unfamiliar tasks that require them to draw on existing knowledge and adapt with confidence.
Supporting students through the discomfort of being a beginner requires intentional teaching practices, rather than removing unfamiliar or challenging tasks. Small shifts in language, visible teacher support and carefully scaffolded tasks can help students move past the fear of getting things wrong and towards a willingness to try.
Kate Sansome is lecturer in marketing at Adelaide University.
If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus newsletter.
comment