The Three Try (or Less) Rule - How to Create Success

Learners can become frustrated and lose focus when they fail, especially if they are adult students.
This is why we suggest, the three try (or less) rule.  If a learner fails three times to meet the tag point criterion, go to a past point of success and move forward in smaller increments. In this manner you can build on success instead of searching blindly for a potential point of success. Of course the 'three try rule' isn't really a rule. The learner never has to fail three times. If it is clear the learner will not likely achieve the tag point criterion after the first failure, jump right in and clarify or change the tag point.

The best designed tag points move the learner forward but don't ask them to teeter on failure.
Some people have remarked after watching a TAGteach session or seeing some of our videos "they got a tag every time, don't they need to make mistakes to learn?" The answer is, no they don't need to make mistakes to learn. A TAGteacher will always try to set the learner up to succeed and never purposely make things too difficult. The whole point of using TAGteach is to create clear communication, encourage focus and build a desire to succeed. When the fear of failure is reduced, the learner can focus on the task at hand. Skill acquisition is accomplished quickly and without an undue amount of stress.

Watch this video of the three try rule in action. The learner makes three mistakes in a row. Instead of asking him to try again and risk frustration (and a full-on meltdown) the teacher goes back to a previous tag point and starts to build up again from there.

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