Practice for Knowledge Acquisition (Not Drill and Kill) Teachers Modules

What is the topic?

Mary Brabeck, PhD, NYU Jill Jeffrey, PhD, Research Scientist

It doesnt matter what subject you teach, differences in students performance are affected by how much they practice. Researchers who have investigated expert and novice performance have uncovered important distinctions between deliberate practice and other activities, such as work, play and rote repetition. Rote repetition simply repeating a task will not automatically improve performance. Effective practice is deliberate. It involves attention, rehearsal and repetition and leads to new knowledge or skills that can later be developed into more complex knowledge and skills.
Formal definition of practice (Gobet & Campitelli, 2007)

Deliberate practice consists of activities purposely designed to improve performance. These activities typically require effort and are not enjoyable. Most students are incapable of working on practice activities for long periods of time (Gobet & Campitelli, 2007, p. 160). Practice for Knowledge Acquisition (Not Drill and Kill) Teachers Modules

Why is this topic important?

Practice is important for teaching and learning in at least five ways: 1. Practice greatly increases the likelihood that students will permanently remember new information that they encounter by transferring it into their knowledge base. 2. Practice increases student facility or automaticity (automaticity means learning to apply elements of knowledge automatically, without reflection). Automaticity is usually only achieved through extensive rehearsal and repetition. Automaticity frees up students' cognitive resources to handle more challenging tasks. 3. When students practice solving problems, it appears that they increase their ability to transfer practiced skills to new and more complex problems (Glover, Ronning, & Bruning, 1990). 4. Practice helps students acquire expertise in subject matter and therefore it helps to distinguish novices from experts in given subjects. 5. Cognitive gains from practice often bring about motivation for more learning (Kalchman, Moss, & Case, 2001). Teachers should think of practice not as rote repetition, but as deliberate, goal-directed rehearsal paired with reflection on problem-solving processes. For example, when teachers have students practice identifying phonemes, the ultimate goal is for students to read with fluency and

comprehension. Although fluent reading may be too complex a task for beginning readers to tackle, the more manageable task of identifying phonemes may scaffold students learning to achieve the ultimate goal of reading. That is, teachers should always design practice activities with the goal of transferring knowledge to new and more complex problems in mind.

General recommendations to teachers regarding practice:

Research (Ericsson, Krampe, & Clemens, 1993) suggests several conditions that must be in place in order for practice activities to be most effective in moving students closer to skillful performance. Each of these conditions can be met with carefully designed instruction: 1. Because practice requires intense, focused effort, students may not find it inherently enjoyable; therefore, teachers can encourage students to practice more by pointing out every time that practice has actually improved their performance. Teachers can also motivate students to practice more by expressing confidence in students ability to succeed in solving practice-problems. Last, teachers can motivate students to practice by designing activities that maximize students opportunities to succeed. 2. Teachers should design practice tasks with students existing knowledge in mind. When students succeed at practice-problems the benefits of practice are maximized. On the other hand, when students become frustrated with unrealistic or poorly designed practiceproblems, they often lose motivation, will not receive the full benefits of the practice they have done, and will be less motivated to attempt future practice problems. 3. Students receive the greatest benefits from practice when teachers provide them with timely and descriptive feedback. 4. Students should have repeated opportunities to practice a task through practicing other tasks like it.

What type of feedback is most effective?

Feedback is most effective when it contains descriptions of how students work meets performance criteria and what students can do to improve. This kind of descriptive feedback is more effective than feedback consisting of vague, general comments (e.g. nice work or needs improvement). Feedback should also be focused on the learning process. That is, teachers should focus their feedback on helping students reflect on their problem solving skills, as well as on progress they have made (Also see module on Using Classroom Data to Give Systematic Feedback to Students to Improve Learning).

Dos and don'ts

To maximize the positive effects of practice, teachers should keep in mind a number of dos and donts:
Do

1. Vary practice activities.

2. Distribute practice over extended periods of time. 3. Provide clear instructions on performance expectations and criteria. 4. Before asking students to practice independently, model the problem-solving process that you expect students to use. 5. Break complex problems into their constituent elements, and have students practice on these smaller elements before asking them to solve complex problems independently. 6. Guide students through sample practice problems by using prompts that help them reflect on problem-solving strategies. 7. Provide students with completed sample problems as well as partially completed problems before asking them to apply new problem-solving strategies on their own. 8. Wait until students actually need more information to solve a complex problem. This strategy known as just-in-time instruction helps keep the amount of information that students must hold in their short-term memories to a manageable level as they practice. The following link provides information on just in time teaching. 9. Provide plenty of opportunities for students to practice applying problem-solving skills before you test them on their ability to use those skills.
Dont

1. Dont ask students to practice complex problem solving without providing them with plenty of guidance and feedback. 2. Dont overload students by presenting information in redundant formats. 3. Dont give your students complex practice problems before they

Evidence and explanation

Research suggests that when teachers construct problems for students to practice, they should keep in mind the limitations of human memory. Moving information to permanent storage is often explained as a multistore model of memory (Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968; 1971; Baddeley, 1996). According to this model, our brains have three memory storage systems: sensory memory, short-term (or working) memory, and longterm memory. Learning occurs when we move information from working memory to long-term memory, and practice helps with this process. Practice (sometimes called rehearsal) keeps the information in our short-term memory long enough for it to move to long-term memory. Once it is in long-term memory, it can be built upon to create more and more complex associations.

Most researchers agree that there are forms of Short-Term Memory (STM) for different modalities, such as visual STM, auditory STM and motor STM. For example, Badeley (1996, 1998) suggests that short-term memory is a dynamic place where sounds and images are turned into verbal and pictorial models. STM is also thought to have a "central executive" that manages the information it is holding. This central executive also controls our awareness of that information. The implication for teachers is that they should present material in multiple modalities. If a child who is learning to read hears a word, sees the word, and sees a picture of the word, there will be more learning. The child can get the visual information from the visual STM and additional auditory information in the auditory STM. These two sensory sources of information supplement and complement one another. However, teachers must be careful not to have too much extraneous information in the classroom. Too much stimulation can put too much demand on working memory (Pass & Kester, 2006).
Short-term or working memory

Working memory or short-term memory, is stored for very short periods minutes at most. Information in our short-term memory is generally housed in the temporal lobe of the brain (the hippocampal region). It allows you to remember phone numbers and also information that comes from long-term memory right before you need to use it. Short-term memory is also the memory system that is used when we cram for a test at the last minute. Attention difficulties, distractions and overload of too much information all negatively impact our short-term memory and cause it to fail. We all have a limited ability to focus on many stimuli at the same time, and if we dont process the information, we lose it. Practice helps us increase our ability to access information rapidly and automatically. Practice also frees our brains to process more challenging information and problems. For example, if a child has memorized the multiplication table and can retrieve it automatically, working memory is freed to do more complicated math.
Long-term memory

When working-memory is stored, it becomes long-term memory. Long-term memory is the depository of memories throughout the brain that results from the ongoing chemical processes that change neuronal connections. The formation of long-term memories takes place over the span of days, weeks, and in some cases years. As the memories are consolidated, neuron connections become more and more efficient, and in the process, connections that are no longer useful are discarded from lack of use. Although the capacity of our long-term is apparently limitless (as far as we know, no one has ever stored all that the brain is capable of storing), working memory can hold only seven items (plus or minus 2) at a given time, and these items decay rapidly (Miller, 1956).
Changes in the brain

Research on the brains of rats has shown that relatively short periods of practice can enhance the plasticity of the brain and actually change its structure (Rioult-Pedotti, Friedman, Hess, & Donoghue, 1998). Brain imaging has shown that even a brief lesson on new words changes brain circuits (Abdullaev & Posner, 1998; Raichle et al., 1994) and retrieval (Habib, Nyberg, & Tulving, 2003). Experts and novices differ in the amount and structure of information stored in their long-term memories. These cognitive differences occur in large part because of differences in the amount of practice in which each has engaged.

Can we increase the capacity of our short-term memory?

Extensive and deliberate practice makes it possible for students to access and apply increasingly complex information without explicitly thinking about it. In other words, it increases automaticity (see earlier discussion of automaticity) (Case, 1985, 1991). Automaticity leaves students' working memories free to process new information (Kotovsky, Hayes, & Simon, 1985). Since working memory can be overloaded at any time, any 'savings' from automaticity become very important. When there is too much information in our working memory it will fail, and the chemical processes that transfer information to our long-term memories fail too. Longterm learning is enhanced by a distributed process in which information is repeated with time in between practice sessions, rather than by crammed practice. Reviews and tests are forms of practice that can improve learning. Tests (or quizzes) that are given immediately after a learning exercise give children opportunities to practice. Because learning is recent, students tend to do well on these tests. However, their success does not ensure long-term retention. Teachers can provide time during class to give students additional practice in taking tests. Some tests, such as tests with open-ended answers have been shown to enhance learning because they involve students in the "retrieval" of information from long-term memory. Tests are more effective when they are given at spaced intervals and when they are given more frequently (Cull, 2000; Dempster; 1991; Roediger & Karpicke, 2006). Chunking information, or combining small bits together in short-term memory, is another strategy that students can use to increase their STM holding capacity. Although chunking gives a

student more capacity in their STM, its usefulness depends on how much knowledge a person already has. The more knowledge one has on a topic, the more likely that one can chunk incoming information into larger and more meaningful chunks. This is why knowledge itself adds to ones ability to solve complex problems. Children who use chunking are more likely to be strategic about their learning. Teachers can help children become more strategic by explicitly teaching them strategies like chunking. Click here for an example of chunking Chunking can develop experts schema. Information stored in the brain in larger chunks of integrated concepts are known as schemas. For example, a novice chess player who does not yet have complex schemas for chess playing has to devote his or her limited working memory to processing large amounts of information while playing (Anderson, 1966). An expert, on the other hand, can easily access schemas from long-term memory (deGroot, 1966). With practice, a novice player can construct chess-playing schemas and therefore increase the amount of information stored in long-term memory. In this way, practice with accessing and applying knowledge helps one to transfer that knowledge into a permastore of long-term memory so that he or she can more efficiently utilize space available in the working memory (Elo, 1978; Kotovsky & Fallside, 1989).
Information on different theories explaining expert performance

Many researchers (e.g. Ericsson et al., 1993) argue that differences in the amount of practice account for the majority of performance differences between individuals, resulting from differences in the amount and structure of knowledge stored in long-term memory. This position is contradicted by other researchers that emphasize innate, genetic differences, or talent as the main factor accounting for differences between expert and novice performance (Plomin, DeFries, McClearn, & Rutter, 1997). More recently, researchers have emphasized an interaction between innate and behavioral factors in accounting for differences in performance levels (Gobet & Campitelli, 2007). Overall, the research supports the view that practice plays a large role in performance differences. Moreover, research suggests that deliberate practice can go a long way in lessening performance differences between individuals who are thought to possess talent and those who are not (Chase & Ericsson, 1981). See Gobet and Campitelli (2007) for a comprehensive review of this debate.
Example of chunking

The following digits can be seen as a random list of numbers: 14921776. Random or meaningless information taxes the limited capacity of short-term memory (STM). However, if a student "chunks" the information into two dates (1492: Columbus discovered America; and 1776: the year the Declaration of Independence was signed) it leaves room in the short-term memory for more information. Chunking allows several units of information to be compressed into a single meaningful unit or chunk (e.g., whereas the random number string above represents 8 discrete units to be stored in short-term memory (near its maximum capacity), the two meaningful dates represent only two

chunks of information to be stored. This leaves space in the STM for more information to be held. And when more information is held in STM, there is more information available for transfer to long-term memory where it can be permanently stored. Practice makes perfect, and repetition makes permanent Tuesday, 15 February 2011 21:32 Bass fishing...practice makes perfect. LAST week we held our annual bass fishing competitions at Darwendale Dam that brought together 20 of the countrys renowned bass fisherman from Bulawayo and Harare. Some lost dismally and others won different prizes in different categories. I was among those who lost. I comforted myself by saying that at times participation is more important than winning. Allow me then to take a few learning points from the overall winner Chris. In his speech he said: I am a disciple of Jose Mourinho. He is never surprised when he wins because he works very hard during training. I am equally not surprised to win this prestigious competition. I spend the last month training hard for this competition. I work in Norton and stay in Norton. Every day after work I would go to the dam to experiment with various baits and fishing techniques. I also spent 30 minutes jogging everyday to improve my endurance. What is implied by working hard during training? Training basically implies preparation. It involves conceptualisation of the future the desired state of the future. The more you rehearse about the future (what you visualise) the more likelihood of success in the future. The most practical way of rehearsing about the future is through practice. Practice makes perfect, and repetition makes permanent (anonymous). If you want to perfect a particular skill, the more you continue practising the more you perfect the skill. In the end that skill becomes natural. What makes training successful is the understanding of the goals to be achieved. Sport training has become so scientific these days so much that there are high performance centres which are devoted to bringing out the sportsmans full potential. Gone are the days when one would enter the race and hope to win on the basis of talent. Science has made it possible for even those without talent in sport to be successful provided they follow a tried and tested programme. Gone are the days when companies just hope to beat competitors on the basis of just bigger branch network, more factories, or more product offerings or higher capitalisation.

A good example would be that most sports people who are not professionals train without visualising what they want to be. When training to be a good soccer player you have to know whether you want to be the best striker or defender or midfielder or goalkeeper. Each position has different training requirements. This is similar to what companies do. They train their staff without aligning it to their strategy. In most cases this is just a waste of resources. Likewise rugby players have to understand what aspects of training they have to do. In rugby there are the forwards and the back line. The forwards are normally the big guys and the back lines are normally the fast guys. Training requirements for backs and forwards are slightly different. At times you disempower players by giving them the wrong training. You will disempower the back line if your training emphasises bulkiness at the expense of speed at the same time you will disempower the flanks if you emphasise speed at the expense of bulkiness. The flanks will lose their effectiveness as they will easily be injured, etc. Most companies do not articulate the goals of training to their employees adequately. At times employees are equipped with higher competencies but are then blocked from using their skills which is a serious source of disgruntlement and demotivation. Therefore, the training dose must be determined by what to train and how to train. Science and statistics show that you cant compete and win the marathon with a rugby body. You have to be light in order to finish the race. Therefore training for a marathon player is different from a rugby player. The diet of a rugby player is different from a boxers or soccer player or any other athlete. If your company is growing rapidly and you are continuously developing staff and promoting managers prematurely, promoted achievers are bound to encounter health challenges manifesting themselves in obesity, high blood pressure, etc. This reduces their effectiveness. Therefore you need to consider training on diet and health programmes if your company is at the growth stage in its life cycle. Most people go to the gym but they do not understand what they want to achieve by going to the gym. People confuse going to the gym with creating a nice body. This is just one of the many objectives of going to the gym. Different sports personalities go to the gym to train aspects of their bodies which make them competitive and more effective in their discipline.

Training is contextual to the season. There is offseason training, preseason training and season training. Offseason trainings emphasis is on methods to help in recuperating, preseason is preparing to go into the season and season training we expect you to be at the peak of training. This also determines the type of training, which is specific to those seasons. If you maintain the same season training throughout the year, your players will suffer from burnout i.e. diminishing returns to training. You can never be at peak throughout the year. Burnout affects the mind first then the body. Companies should slow down on training towards the festive season and immediately after the festive season. Therefore, training hard does not imply doing it every day. Training is supposed to increase players confidence. The more the players are encouraged during training the more the players behaviour is affirmed. The bigheaded players are brought back and the underperformed will be upscale. If you do not sweat during practice you will bleed during the game. If you do not give 100 percent during practice you will not get 100 percent during the game. Both high achievers and low achievers needs for training need to be assessed correctly. Training is not restricted to the less talented but to the more talented as well. I find this verse from the Bible inspiring when I am training: Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might . . . (Ecclesiastes 9 vs 10). The writer is a managing consultant at CLC Training International. Email: chiganze@iwayafrica.co.zw