‘Deliberate practice involves attention, interest and motivation, this is the important bit and how we, as educators, can help our students understand the benefit of practice in the long run by making our learning materials fun and interesting! It’s important because practice can help improve skills. If you practice a new skill on a regular basis then you will get good at it, learning to ride a bike, drive a car, play a musical instrument, these are all skills that take time, commitment and practice and this is exactly the same for studying too. Practice helps you implement what you have learnt and get better at it…Learning will most likely occur with the opportunity for practice and feedback. Creating an environment or providing opportunity for our students to practice what they’ve learnt is paramount in the learning process. Whether this be on an online platform i.e taking part in a chatroom or taking a quiz. Giving feedback is also crucial. Providing students with feedback or vice versa, students giving their course leaders feedback on their learning experience, helps to confirm their knowledge and also provides ways in which future students’ experiences can be improved.’

(https://teltales.port.ac.uk/2019/08/19/achieving-mastery-how-important-is-practice-in-learning/)

Practice in the classroom is essential for transforming knowledge into long-term memory, enabling skill mastery, and boosting pupil confidence. It facilitates the application of new concepts, allows for the identification of misconceptions, and increases efficiency and accuracy. Regular practice also supports cognitive load management, allowing pupils to move from novice to more expert levels. 

Benefits:

Strategies:

Implementation:

 This blog was written by Bretta Townend-Jowitt, Education Consultant and Trainer.