Learning Science Principle #2: Targeted Practice
Research shows that learners learn more effectively when they take part in activities which enable them to practice a skill that we want them to develop, and to receive feedback on their practice so they can try again.
✏️ Learning Design Tips
Targeted practice has been identified in a range of studies as a predictor of learning success & a major contributor to the development of expertise (Duckworth et al., 2011; Ericsson, 2006; Macnamara, Hambrick & Oswald, 2014).
To get into the practice mindset: think about your learners as if they were musicians. Musicians learn best not just when they learn about concepts and skills in theory but also when they repeatedly practice. Regardless of how much a pianist reads about and discusses scales, only by repeatedly playing scales will they develop the skill for real.
As well as delivering content on the what and why of your subject, think about the how — which particular skills or behaviours (e.g. playing chords, demonstrating leadership skills, fitting a tyre) do they need to practice to develop key skills?
Once you’ve defined what your learners need to be able to do, design in opportunities for them to repeatedly practice these key skills, either in one session or — even better — over a period of time, e.g. returning to practice chords of increasing complexity over a series of weeks.
For each cycle of practice, learners should receive corrective & actionable feedback from an expert as soon as possible afterwards and be encouraged to repeat the practice immediately as soon and often as possible (Duckworth, Kirby, Tsukayama, Berstein & Ericsson, 2011).
Example 1: Accounting 📈
You want your learners to be able to analyse a balance sheet. Show a financial accounting professional thinking aloud as she analyses a company’s balance sheet, then have the students try this themselves using a balance sheet.
Provide immediate actionable feedback, either via async video, audio or written feedback, peer feedback or sync coach or peer feedback in a practice session.
Then, have your learners practice the same key skills a second time, perhaps with increasing complexity if their competency allows it. Again, provide immediate actionable feedback.
Example 2: Sales 💰
Show a sales professional narrating a filmed interaction with a client, explaining what she was thinking as she modelled a particular sales technique. Then, have the students try this themselves; provide them with a scenario and have them respond to specific challenges or problems.
Examples of how to do this include: learners record and upload video responses to scenarios, narrating their thought and action processes; learners answer multiple choice questions in response to certain scenarios; learners take part in sync sessions where they react on the spot to certain.
Provide immediate actionable feedback, either via async video, audio or written feedback, peer feedback or sync coach or peer feedback in a practice session.
Then, have your learners practice the same key skills a second time, perhaps with increasing complexity if their competency allows it. Again, provide immediate actionable feedback.
Example 3: Medicine 🩺
Create a podcast-style interview with a doctor who explains their thought process as they respond to an emergency, profile their patients and decide on a suitable treatment. Then, have the students try this themselves; provide them with a scenario and have them ask questions and/or respond to pre-populated data to get to a decision.
Examples of how to do this include: learners record and upload video their thought and action processes; learners answer multiple choice questions in response to certain scenarios; learners take part in sync sessions where they react on the spot to designed scenarios.
Provide immediate actionable feedback, either via async video, audio or written feedback, peer feedback or sync coach or peer feedback in a practice session.
Then, have your learners practice the same key skills a second time, perhaps with increasing complexity if their competency allows it. Again, provide immediate actionable feedback.
🥷 Ninja Tip > Model & Fix Bad Practice
Targeted practice helps learners not just to develop new skills but also to identify, learn from & correct bad habits & misunderstanding or misapplication of content (Duckworth et al., 2011; Ericsson, 2006; Macnamara, Hambrick & Oswald, 2014).
Include examples of bad as well as good practice; have learners identify errors and show you how their practice would be different, and why.
🧪 The Science Bit
Duckworth, A. L., Kirby, T. A., Tsukayama, E., Berstein, H. & Ericsson, K. A. (2011). Deliberate practice spells success: Why grittier competitors triumph at the National Spelling Bee. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 2(2), 174–181.
Ericsson, K. A. (2006). The influence of experience and deliberate practice on the development of superior expert performance. The Cambridge handbook of expertise and expert performance, 38, 685–705.
Macnamara, B. N., Hambrick, D. Z. & Oswald, F. L. (2014). Deliberate practice and performance in music, games, sports, education, and professions: A meta-analysis. Psychological Science, 25(8), 1608–1618.