Thoughts on practicing
This is a collection of thoughts from Week 6 in 6411 Cognition and Learning where the topic of practice is being explored.
Response ONE:
I’m going to be devil’s advocate here and suggest, as Willingham (2009) mentions, that not “everything can be practiced extensively”. The time it takes, particularly with semester systems in high schools, to provide sequential, spaced, practice just isn’t available. Most parents don’t realize the totality of expected outcomes for students, as seen in this summary of mathematics expectations for Grade 8 (Edugains, n.d.). Unless something is done about curriculum bloat, which has been an issue for a long time (Leonhardt, 1995), we will continue to pay the price of losing the automaticity that comes from practice, to a breadth of surface knowledge without abstraction or transference (Willingham, 2009). You can teach wide or you can teach deep, but you can’t do both – there just isn’t time.
With current shifts in political agendas and ‘no homework policies’, there may be a ‘return to basics’ but I don’t see a concurrent reduction in curriculum expectations as part of that equation. Somewhere, somehow, something’s gotta give! Just as there is for the no-homework issue, the classroom teacher is often caught between the political agenda and parental pressures, which can shift in a flash. But that’s a story for another time. Stepping down off my soapbox now!
Response TWO:
While I may agree wholeheartedly about the use of synchronous tools such as Zoom, to deliver a personalized learning experience, there are cognitive load considerations, since the use of these technologies comes with additional requirements in thinking. I’m finding that students can make some transference if they’ve had experiences with similar digital tools, such as Skype. But some students have expressed anxiety and concerns with getting the tech to work that interfere with the conversation or subject matter topics we’re talking about. Unless there is consideration for allowing practice over time, in order to the use of the technology to become automatic, it will continue to interfere with the outcomes of the event, which is deeper learning in the subject matter. Do you see this issue in your current work?
Response THREE:
Your example resonates for me – folding practice into more advanced skills. This also comes when you require students to do a reflection journal, or build a portfolio of learning. It’s a form of mentally practicing the concepts or rehearsing the learning. If a performance event is built into the teaching plan, then there’s further purpose for the reflections. Three way conferences (New Zealand Ministry of Education) are an example of how practice and rehearsal can result in deeper learning, since students are required to explain and elaborate on their learning using a variety of artifacts from a series of learning events. Have you ever included a performance event as a culminating task in your language learning classes, such as choral reading performance or a public speaking event?
References
Edugains. (n.d.) Math expectations Grade 8. Retrieved from http://www.edugains.ca/resourcesMath/CE/TIPS4Math/gr8_math_2005_AODA.pdf
Leonhardt, D. (1995). Tackling the bloated curriculum. The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1995/07/20/tackling-the-bloated-curriculum/cb8c2d48-af9a-42b8-b3a0-a639da6c5501/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.3d597c788180
New Zealand Ministry of Education. (n.d.) Student-led conferences and three-way conferences. Retrieved from http://assessment.tki.org.nz/Reporting-to-parents-whanau/Examples-and-templates/Student-self-assessment-and-reflection/Student-led-conferences-and-three-way-conferences
Willingham, D. (2009). Why don’t students like school? San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.
