I resonate with the brief about high ceiling examples. In grade school, I remember constantly struggling to understand how to code. The actual process confused me, but I was also really overwhelmed when examples shown by the teacher seemed a lot more polished than what I believed I could make. I personally did the best with proof-of-concept examples. These examples reassure me the basic steps that must be achieved to create some type of functional project, even if it isn’t super pretty!
I am most familiar with failure examples from working in my UROP lab. My UROP lab was a lot of trial and error in engineering, but it was reassuring to see my graduate student mentor show failure examples throughout the process. I prefer to show incomplete examples as described in the additional article (second link) when teaching others. I usually create examples that show the very basic idea of how something is completed (similar to proof-of-concept examples), then ask the students I’m teaching to think about how they would improve the project. This method encourages them to understand the main purpose of the project (its rudimentary function) but also explore potential project extensions. Giving students a simple example also helps them gain some initial confidence since many can quickly identify potential improvements.
Another example could be constraint-based examples. These would most likely be shown at the end of a project for advanced learners. These examples would show what can be done under a specific limitation, such as using a particular material, a time constraint, or a specific technique. This could keep students who complete projects early engaged and challenged!