Practice Principles
Overview
Practice in e-Learning incorporates interactions through questions. When creating questions for interactions, creators must keep in mind that the questions being asked should allow learners to be both behaviourally and psychologically active. Learners should be given a chance to actively apply their knowledge rather than just regurgitating answers. The practice must be deliberate. Any type of practice offered to learners should be relevant to their jobs, dispensed all over their learning space and be offered frequently as it leads to improvement. Six practice principles are set as guidelines for creators of web-based learning tools.
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Guidelines for Use
Practice Principle 1 - Sufficient Practice Interactions
- Enough practice assignments for learners to help them learn
- Since the benefit of practice reduces overtime it is not helpful to bombard students with the same types of practice questions and/or questions with same content
- The interactions provided must have job-realistic content
- Avoid only knowledge based questions and should include application questions
- Feedback provided should include relevant explanations – especially when the answer is incorrect
- Divide the lessons into smaller sections and provide practice after each section
- Mix the types and content in the questions
- Make sure to include appropriate visuals
- Do not include anything extra that might be distracting such as extra images and/or sounds
- Make sure everything flows well
- Slowly release the amount of responsibility given to the learner to practice the lesson by scaffolding
- Show the learners a full worked out example of the problem before giving them an opportunity to try to
Good Examples of Use
Lippincott Nursing Education
- This tool teaches nursing students how to engage with patients by mirroring the job they would be expected to perform at work.
- Learners hoping to get better at the game of chess can navigate this website by learning how to play, watching videos by experts, practicing by engaging in different scenarios, receiving feedback from skilled coaches and much more
Helpful Resources
How to Create an Effective Feedback System for eLearning
- This page gives three steps that must be included when giving feedback to ensure that it is effective
- This gives a quick outline of the twelve multimedia principles and some examples of how they can be integrated into the learning content
- The page shows how lessons can be taught so students can effectively transition from seeing examples to tackling a problem successfully themselves.
Research
Clark, R.C., & Mayer, R. E., (2011). Does practice make perfect? E-Learning and the science of instruction: proven guidelines for consumers and designers of multimedia learning (pp. 251-276). San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer
Plant, E.A., Ericsson, K.A., Hill, L., & Asberg, K. (2005). Why study time does not predict grade point average across college students: Implications of deliberate practice for academic performance. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 30, 96–116.
Shute, V.J. (2008). Focus on formative feedback. Review of Educational Research, 78(1), 153–189.
Plant, E.A., Ericsson, K.A., Hill, L., & Asberg, K. (2005). Why study time does not predict grade point average across college students: Implications of deliberate practice for academic performance. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 30, 96–116.
Shute, V.J. (2008). Focus on formative feedback. Review of Educational Research, 78(1), 153–189.
Contributor
Submitted by: Roohi Jawad
Email: [email protected]
Bio: I am a grade 5 homeroom teacher and I have been an Ontario certified teacher (OCT) since 2009. I am currently pursuing a Master’s of Education degree at Ontario Tech University. I am always looking for new ways to engage and educate my students, and often it is through some form of technology.
Email: [email protected]
Bio: I am a grade 5 homeroom teacher and I have been an Ontario certified teacher (OCT) since 2009. I am currently pursuing a Master’s of Education degree at Ontario Tech University. I am always looking for new ways to engage and educate my students, and often it is through some form of technology.