Practice Is Essential for Developing Expertise (but Often Misunderstood)

What is the best way for teachers to develop student expertise in a subject area? Currently, there are two competing schools of thought. One school, which I will refer to as inquiry-based instruction, believes that pedagogy should prioritize teaching conceptual understanding using complex problems so that students can see the value of what they are learning and practice thinking, reasoning, and problem-solving with concepts. Advocates of this view believe that students benefit from self-discovery of knowledge to build autonomy and make learning more personal and meaningful (e.g., Liu & Pásztor, 2022). They see traditional methods of practice with simple facts as “drill and kill,” which undermines student interest and motivation. The other school, which I will call direct instruction, believes that the best way to learn complex concepts and procedures is through incremental, teacher-directed instruction coupled with practice at each step (Clark et al., 2012). They see knowledge as hierarchical; students must master simpler concepts before they can understand more complex ones. Teaching through student self-discovery is unlikely to succeed because it imposes a high cognitive load, which overwhelms most students and undermines learning. This camp prioritizes memorization and practice of basic facts. Both schools agree that practice is important, but they differ on what students should practice. Where they both fall short, however, is in recognizing that there are different kinds of practice that have different learning consequences. Regardless of teaching approach, understanding different kinds of practice benefits teachers.

To continue reading, you must be a Teaching Professor Subscriber. Please log in or sign up for full access.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Related Articles

I have two loves: teaching and learning. Although I love them for different reasons, I’ve been passionate about...
I’ve taught a course in statistics for psychological research for almost 40 years. No student becomes a psych...
My course is literally about teaching reading to young children, a challenge given that research suggests that college...
We’ve long known that reading long blocks of text can lead to wandering minds and lower retention. It’s...
Would it be weird for someone to listen to graduation speeches while she commuted, cleaned, or walked her...
I teach a lot of 100-level courses—the kind all students need to take from multiple disciplines to satisfy...
Faculty are increasingly using open educational resources (OER) to reduce textbook costs for students. But many faculty limit...

Create a free account, or log in.

Gain access to limited free articles, news alerts, and select newsletters

Login here

Get unlimited access to The Teaching Professor

Stay informed. Subscribe Now.

WELCOME OFFER

$19.00 $14.00/month

for your first 6 months. Use coupon code TP6MO.

$19.00 thereafter. Cancel anytime.

Enjoy unlimited access to all of The Teaching Professor

You only have  free article views remaining.

WELCOME OFFER

$19.00 $14.00/month

for your first 6 months. Use coupon code TP6MO.

$19.00 a month thereafter. Cancel anytime.

Are you signed up for free weekly Teaching Professor updates?

You'll get notified of the newest articles.