Put exam failure on the agenda! Approaches at the University of Vienna

Failing an exam brings individual feelings of disappointment, but this experience can also offer a rich learning potential that often goes unrealised. In accordance
with a competence-oriented approach to assessment, students should be provided with the resources and strategies they need to work on their learning abilities. This
paper discusses the way we deal with failure within the ambivalent demands of assessment and the contradictory perspectives on failure itself. It concludes with specific case studies showing productive ways of dealing with failure experiences.