" Active learning and deliberate practice will be covered in more depth in later posts, but below are some key points:
- Effective learning is active, not passive. It is not effective to attempt to learn by passively watching videos, attending lectures, reading books, or re-reading notes.
- Deliberate practice requires repeatedly practicing skills that are beyond one's repertoire. However, this tends to be more effortful and less enjoyable, which can mislead non-experts to practice within their level of comfort.
- Classroom activities that are enjoyable, collaborative, and non-repetitive (such as group discussions and freeform/unstructured project-based or discovery learning) can sometimes be useful for increasing student motivation and softening the discomfort associated with deliberate practice -- but they are only supplements, not substitutes, for deliberate practice.
- Deliberate practice must be a part of a consistent routine. The power of deliberate practice comes from compounding of incremental improvements over a longer period of time. It is not a "quick fix" like cramming before an exam. "