Individual Deliberate Practice

Overview

Practicing until achieving several error-free attempts is critical for retention. When learners work independently to repeatedly practice new material (retrieval practice), they become fluent in the skill and are able to recall it automatically.

Use It in the Classroom

Watch how this elementary teacher supports students during their independent practice. By circulating and providing individual feedback, the teacher is able to meet the diverse needs of his students, helping the students maintain their Attention and practice their Narrative Skills, Phonological Awareness, and Syntax.

Independent practice after guided practice helps reduce the cognitive load and encourages Long-term Memory storage. Developing this fluency is crucial for knowledge and concepts that are the foundation for subsequent learning. Teachers can support student learning by interweaving (formally interleaving) reviews of older content and providing feedback to ensure proper retention of accurate material.

Design It into Your Product

Videos are chosen as examples of strategies in action. These choices are not endorsements of the products or evidence of use of research to develop the feature.

Learn how the One Minute Reader app integrates individual practice to promote reading fluency. By having learners reread the story, this product supports their practice with fluency and their Morphological Awareness, Phonological Awareness, Syntax, Decoding, and Sight Recognition skills.

A developer can support fluency by creating short practice problem series. Repeated practice of the new material supports greater Speed of Processing and consolidation of the skill in Long-term Memory.

View References

Resources

Below are additional examples, research, and professional development. These resources are possible representations of this strategy, not endorsements.

Achieving Deliberate Practice

Concrete and actionable tips to achieve deliberate practice

Cognition & Memory

Topic that includes cognitive science theories about how the brain processes information on Digital Promise's Research Map

Development of Expertise

Subtopic that explores factors that lead people to become experts on Digital Promise's Research Map

Distributed Practice

Digital Promise blog on distributed practice and how it has been shown to improve learning

Independent Practice Strategy

Description and suggestions for implementing independent practice

Research-Based Strategies

Summary of strategies highlighting the importance of independent practice