3 entries for Monday, June 15, 2020

[Expanded practice is a way of gradually hiding more and more of what you want to be recalled - it breaks into chunks the amount needed to be remembered. An example is given of caffeine's molecular structure: the first round involves recalling a few missing bonds and atoms, the second round a few more, eventually leading to recalling the entire structure from just the word 'caffeine'.]

[Reading highlighted sentences doesn't demand recall or generation and thus doesn't strengthen your memory. Better to highlight part of the sentence and try to remember the rest.]

[Generating incorrectly strengthens memory of the mistake.]

[Practice makes permanent, and with feedback we can perfect.]

[Having students work in groups to report an answer can help them feel less personally threatened when confronting negative feedback.]

[Low-information feedback like 'right' or 'wrong' can be useful for more knowledgeable students that just need a small nudge to self-correct. Elaborate more to those who need more support.]

[Deliberate practice is necessary for overcoming performance plateau. It requires narrow focus on difficulties and this must be done outside the main activity.]

[Deliberate practice requires a degree of concentration that isn't sustainable for long periods. It will be more likely that you need to rest and not continue four hours at a time.]

[It takes more effort and concentration to make a hundred free-throws with attention to your body and form than to make three-hundred while distracted and chatting to a friend.]

[The goal of deliberate practice is to make skills and concepts more automatic, efficient, effortless and to allow one to work with larger chunks and on more complex problems.]