Do, think.
Do, think.
Do, think.
This is the never-ending cycle of improving: Do, then think; do again, then think again. The doing informs the thinking; the thinking informs the doing. Specific “doing” actions depend on the knowledge and skills you are trying to learn, whereas the “thinking” organizes the knowledge and skills into conceptual models.
The “doing” actions are the application of a set of knowledge and skills, which are typically categorized into practice or performance. The distinction between practice and performance comes from the amount of failure that is expected: Practice (usually) expects some failure; performance (usually) expects zero failure. Both practice and performance are important for learning, giving you information about your current level of understanding for a set of knowledge and skills and a way to apply a set of knowledge and skills.
Although practice is common with many tasks, people struggle to effectively organize their practice. The options for organizing practice are endless, so they get stuck in decision paralysis. Instead of having a plan to improve their knowledge and skills, they default to the most basic type of practice or whatever feels good that day — leading to boredom with practice tasks and a lack of improvement.
However, there is good news: Organizing an individual session and a series of sessions with specific high-impact types of practice will help you can learn more quickly. This article will give you explanations and examples for specific high-impact types of practice, helping you better organize your practice sessions and maximize your learning.
Note: As you read this article, please think about a set of knowledge and skills that you are practicing. Anytime you see the words “knowledge,” “skill,” or “concept,” think about your specific practice. This article is written for any type of practice, but you will get more out of the article by thinking about the information in the context of your practice.
Learning
As discussed in Learning, Fast and Slow, learning happens as your senses get information and organize the information in your brain in the form of a conceptual model. A definition for conceptual model is “a set of organized schemata for a concept that can be used to explain parts of the concept or predict outcomes from the concept.” As you create more complex and interrelated conceptual models, you are learning about the parts of a concept and the applications for a concept. This leads to a definition for learning: “Learning is the process of creating, modifying, linking, and applying conceptual models.”
Five Ways to Organize Tasks in Practice Sessions
The idea of practice flows naturally from this definition of learning, with the broadest definition of practice starting from the very first time you try to use any type of knowledge or skill. Think about the first time you tried to kick a ball — after your first attempt (which “created” the initial conceptual model), the next attempt gave you knowledge and skills to modify, link, and apply the conceptual models related to kicking. More attempts produced more knowledge and skills for the conceptual models related to kicking, deepening your understanding of the nuances of kicking.
After some initial learning on a set of knowledge and skills, you may want to get better at the set of knowledge and skills by practicing in a more organized way. There are a few ways to organize tasks, both within a single session and across multiple sessions:
Blocked Practice
Spaced Practice
Interleaved Practice
Retrieval Practice
Random Practice
Each of these specific types have a time for use; if used properly, specific types of practice will make you learn more quickly.
Blocked Practice
Blocked practice is performing many repetitions of the same task in the same way. Returning to our kicking-a-ball example, blocked practice (also known as massed practice) would be completing 100 passes in a row to a partner using only the inside of your right foot. The 100 passes form a “block” of tasks, giving the definition of blocked practice.
Small doses of blocked practice — around 5 to 10 repetitions — can work as a warm-up task at the beginning of a practice session for a set of knowledge and skills, especially if each repetition is performed with full engagement. However, as you increase the number of repetitions of blocked practice in a practice session, you begin to react to the outcome of the last repetition and reduce your engagement with each repetition. This gives an illusion of learning quickly: You get a pattern of success with some repetitions without full engagement, but any change to the task causes you to return to failure. The lack of engagement with each repetition greatly reduces the pace of your learning to learning slowly, making blocked practice a low-impact type of practice.
Spaced Practice
Spaced practice is performing a set number of repetitions for a task over a series of practice sessions. For our kicking-a-ball example, spaced practice would be completing 20 passes in a row to a partner using only the inside of your right foot during one practice session — then completing the 20 passes in 4 more consecutive practice sessions. The total number of passes has stayed the same between the blocked practice and spaced practice, but splitting the passes into multiple days gives quicker learning.
There are many studies showing that spaced practice is better for learning. One study by Kornell (2009) had three experiments where participants used a series of flashcards to learn vocabulary word-pairs. Some participants received small groups of vocabulary word-pairs, creating blocked practice; other participants received the entire set of vocabulary word-pairs, creating spaced practice. At the end the experiments participants took a test: For all three experiments, participants scored worse with blocked practice (roughly 35%) and better with spaced practice (roughly 65%).
Another study by Kwon et al. (2015) had participants press the arrow keys on a computer keyboard in response to certain numbers on a monitor. To learn the task, some participants used a blocked practice schedule whereas other participants used a spaced practice schedule. The researchers measured the response time between seeing the number on a monitor to pressing the arrow keys at the beginning, middle, and end of the practice schedule. Participants using the blocked practice schedule had a worse response time; participants using the spaced practice schedule had a better response time.
Although spaced practice may feel like learning slowly in the middle of a series of practice sessions, spaced practice increases the overall rate of learning by giving your brain time to consolidate the learning from each session. You are using a set of knowledge and skills while completing tasks in a practice session; the tasks force you to modify and link the conceptual models for set of the knowledge and skills in new and more intricate ways. By modifying and linking the conceptual models for the set of knowledge and skills in each practice session, you learn quickly — making spaced practice a high-impact type of practice.
Interleaved Practice
Interleaved practice is completing sets of different tasks in the same practice session. For our kicking-a-ball example, interleaved practice would be completing sets of 10 passes in a row: First using the inside of your right foot, then the inside of your left foot, then the outside of your right foot, finishing with the outside of your left foot. After completing passes, the task is to shoot on goal with different parts of your feet — then finish the practice session by completing a task on dribbling the soccer ball around sets of cones with different parts of your feet. Interleaved practice happens both within one task and a set of tasks, creating multiple sets of interleaved tasks.
Many studies show that interleaved practice increases learning. One study by Carter and Grahn (2016) had clarinet players rehearse musical pieces with blocked practice and interleaved practice. The clarinetists rehearsed one musical piece with blocked practice, then rehearsed a second musical piece with interleaved practice. At the end of the rehearsal session and one day later the clarinetists performed the pieces, with the performances rated by professional clarinetists. The pieces rehearsed with the block schedule were rated less favorably; the pieces rehearsed with the interleaved schedule were rated more favorably.
Another study by Rohrer et al. (2014) had students in grade 7 mathematics classes complete word problems in sets of blocked practice or interleaved practice. Students completed word problems with one type of practice for nine weeks, then took an unannounced test two weeks later. Students who completed word problems with blocked practice scored a mean of 38% on the test, whereas students who completed word problems with interleaved practice scored a mean of 72% on the test — clearly showing that interleaved practice helped students learn more.
One interesting wrinkle for interleaved practice is the similarity of tasks. Some interleaved tasks are very similar — using your left foot then right foot when passing a soccer ball — but other interleaved tasks can be very different. The research is inconclusive as to whether tasks should be similar or different; however, the research does show that any way of interleaving tasks improves learning.
Interleaved practice compliments and extends spaced practice. The act of interleaving provides time between different sets of knowledge and skills, creating a natural way to use spacing. Interleaved practice extends spaced practice because interleaving tasks allows you to identify similarities and differences, understanding patterns in the conceptual models for a set of knowledge and skills. Finding patterns in a set of topics is how you train the procedural system of learning to recognize patterns in a new task, leading to the ability to quickly use the conceptual models in a set of knowledge and skills — making interleaved practice a high-impact type of practice.
Retrieval Practice
Retrieval practice is attempting a task while only using the knowledge and skills in your conceptual models. For the kicking-a-ball example, retrieval practice would be passing the ball to a partner without asking your partner or a coach how to pass the ball. You use whatever knowledge and skills you have to attempt the task first, then discuss information related to the task.
There are many studies that show retrieval practice is better for learning. One study by Haebig et al. (2021) taught new words and their associated sounds to preschool children; the children learned some words by immediately retrieving the words and learned other words through a repeated spaced retrieval process. The children were tested after the teaching phase and one week later, with the researchers measuring how well the children matched words to sounds and how quickly the child’s brain processed the matching. Compared to learning by immediately retrieving the words, learning through the repeated spaced retrieval process had more efficient brain processes and higher level of recall.
Another study by Karpicke and Blunt (2011) used reading about a topic in science to compare concept mapping with retrieval practice. To create a concept map students read about the topic, elaborating on the topic and mapping while reading. For retrieval practice, students read about the topic then recalled the information — completing this process twice. The total amount of learning time was the same for both concept mapping and retrieval practice. After one week, students were tested using conceptual and inference questions; compared to concept mapping, students who performed the cycles of retrieval practice scored 50% higher.
Before attempting any task, you have two options:
Look at some information, then do the task.
Do not look at any information, doing the task first.
Looking at information before doing the task (non-retrieval practice) can be beneficial, especially when the task is new. However, doing the task without looking at any information (retrieval practice) is more advantageous. Even if you cannot complete the task, the act of applying a conceptual model primes your brain to modify and link the knowledge and skills in the task with your current conceptual model. Although using retrieval practice is counterintuitive, retrieval practice forces you to think deeply before doing a task. Thinking deeply before the task takes longer and feels more challenging within a single practice session, but retrieval practice leads to quicker learning over a series of practice sessions — making retrieval practice a high-impact type of practice.
Random Practice
Random practice (also known as variable practice) is changing each repetition of a task in a random way. For our kicking-a-ball example, random practice would be completing one 10-yard pass with the inside of the right foot, then one 20-yard pass with the top of the left foot — continuing to change the type and distance of pass with each repetition. The player could randomize the task with a partner or individually, emphasizing the random nature of the task with each repetition.
There are many studies that show random practice is better for learning. One study by Goode et al. (2008) had participants solve anagrams — creating a new word based on letters in an original word — in several different ways. The participants either repeatedly solved the same anagram as the test anagram, repeatedly solved a different anagram than the test anagram, or solved different variations of the test anagram. The last condition — different variations of the test anagram — is random practice; participants who used random practice had the highest performance on the test anagram.
Another study by Herzog et al. (2022) had participants reach to four targets using a blocked or random practice schedule. After their practice schedule, participants were tested once 10 minutes later and again 24 hours later with three different tasks. For all three of the tasks tested 10 minutes after the practice session, the participants who used a random practice schedule performed better. Two of the three tasks tested 24 hours later showed no difference from the participants, but one of the tasks had the participants who used a random practice schedule perform better.
The power of random practice comes from the unknown nature of the task: By leaving the specifics of the task open-ended, you must consider a wide range of conceptual models for a set of knowledge and skills. Once the task is defined, quickly accessing the relevant conceptual model can be challenging; however, the challenge gives you a large amount of information — both negative and positive — about your level of understanding for the conceptual models in a set of knowledge and skills. This information about your level of understanding can then be used as a starting point in the next practice session, helping you continue towards your goals — and in the process, making random practice a high-impact type of practice.
Organizing Training Sessions
With this information about the types of practice, we can now discuss ways to organize a single practice session and a series of practice sessions. Though the specifics of each practice session depend on the set of knowledge and skills, the training session should include each type of high-impact practice:
Spaced
Interleaved
Retrieval
Random
By using the types of high-impact practice, you can become more organized and increase your learning.
Single Practice Session — Example from Soccer
For this example, imagine someone who is relatively new to playing soccer [1]. They have a basic understanding of how to kick the ball a short distance, but they want to get better at their power and accuracy over longer distances.
In a single practice session (or part of a single session), the person can use each of the four high-impact practice types. Here is a sample practice schedule:
Task #1 — Low Passes
Start 10 yards away from a partner, with the ball sitting in place. Pass the ball along the ground (low) to the partner with the inside of the right foot for three repetitions, then switch to 10-yard passes with the inside of the left foot.
Move the partner to 20 yards, passing the ball along the ground. Repeat the sets of three repetitions for the inside of each foot.
Move the partner to 30 yards, passing the ball along the ground. Repeat the sets of three repetitions for the inside of each foot.
After each set of six repetition (three repetitions with the inside of each foot), verbally explain the kicking technique. If the technique is giving poor results, update the knowledge and skills with the correct technique.
Task #2 — High Passes
Start 10 yards away from a partner, with the ball sitting in place. Pass the ball through the air (high) to the partner with the top of the right foot for three repetitions, then switch to 10-yard passes with the top of the left foot.
Move the partner to 20 yards, passing the ball through the air. Repeat the sets of three repetitions for the top of each foot.
Move the partner to 30 yards, passing the ball through the air. Repeat the sets of three repetitions for the top of each foot.
After each set of six repetition (three repetitions with the inside of each foot), verbally explain the kicking technique. If the technique is giving poor results, update the knowledge and skills with the correct technique.
Task #3 — Low and High Passes
Start 10 yards away from a partner, with the ball sitting in place. The partner will call out a foot and height (“left foot high”), then the player will execute the pass.
The partner moves to a random distance between 10 yards and 30 yards, then calls out a different foot and height. Continue this cycle of randomizing the distance, foot, and height for 20 passes.
If the player misses three passes in a row, stop the task and have the player verbally explain the technique — updating the knowledge and skills in the player’s conceptual model.
Task #4 — Testing
Define “success” in some way; for example, a “successful” pass travels within two yards of the partner at the specified height.
Raise the stakes for each repetition, counting the number of successful passes. Create a goal for the percentage of successful passes — for example, 7 out of 10 — continuing the task until the player reaches the percentage of successful passes.
The single practice session has each of the four high-impact practices. Spaced practice and interleaved practice occur by changing the passing distance, place on foot (side or top), foot (left or right), and height of pass. Retrieval practice happens every time the player kicks the ball; the player must retrieve the knowledge and skills in their conceptual model to complete the kick. Random practice is used in Tasks #3 and #4, with the partner telling the player which kick to execute. Using the four high-impact types of practice will be challenging during the single session, but will maximize learning.
Stakes and Mindset
In addition to the types of high-impact practice, the practice session uses different levels of stakes or intensity. The beginning of the session is low-stakes, allowing the player to either fail or succeed without any consequences. By allowing the player to focus on the knowledge and skills instead of the outcome, the player feels no pressure on each kick and is fully immersed in a learning mindset. The randomization in Task #3 raises the stakes; by stopping the passing if the player misses three passes in a row, the player moves more towards a performance mindset. The stakes are raised even more in Task #4 because the player defines “success,” creating a goal to end the task by reaching the percentage of successful passes. Creating a goal from success criteria puts the player fully into the performance mindset, allowing the player to see how pressure affects their ability to use the knowledge and skills in their conceptual models.
Series of Practice Sessions — Example from Soccer
As the player develops, the practice sessions should also develop — helping the player solidify and extend the knowledge and skills in their conceptual models for passing. In this example, the changes to each session are quite small; each session follows the same progression of tasks, with the tasks changing to more closely mimic the types of passes a player would make in a real soccer game. Here is a sample schedule for four practice sessions [changes from the previous session are in italics]:
Session #1
Task #1 — Low passes at different distances and with different feet, using silent or verbal retrieval practice; low stakes with a learning mindset.
Task #2 — High passes at different distances and with different feet, using silent or verbal retrieval practice; low stakes with a learning mindset.
Task #3 — Random practice of low and high passes with different feet and parts of the feet; medium stakes with a combination of a learning mindset and performance mindset.
Task #4 — Random practice of low and high passes with different feet and parts of the feet; medium-to-high stakes using performance mindset.
Session #2
Task #1 — Low passes at different distances and with different feet with a rolling ball, using silent or verbal retrieval practice; low stakes with a learning mindset.
Task #2 — High passes at different distances and with different feet with a rolling ball, using silent or verbal retrieval practice; low stakes with a learning mindset.
Task #3 — Random practice of low and high passes with different feet and parts of the feet with a rolling ball; medium stakes with a combination of a learning mindset and performance mindset.
Task #4 — Random practice of low and high passes with different feet and parts of the feet with a rolling ball; medium-to-high stakes using performance mindset.
Session #3
Task #1 — Low passes at different distances and with different feet with the partner moving in different directions, using silent or verbal retrieval practice; low stakes with a learning mindset.
Task #2 — High passes at different distances and with different feet with the partner moving in different directions, using silent or verbal retrieval practice; low stakes with a learning mindset.
Task #3 — Random practice of low and high passes with different feet and parts of the feet with the partner moving in different directions; medium stakes with a combination of a learning mindset and performance mindset.
Task #4 — Random practice of low and high passes with different feet and parts of the feet with the partner moving in different directions; medium-to-high stakes using performance mindset.
Session #4
Task #1 — Low passes at different distances and with different feet with the player moving in different directions, using silent or verbal retrieval practice; low stakes with a learning mindset.
Task #2 — High passes at different distances and with different feet with the player moving in different directions, using silent or verbal retrieval practice; low stakes with a learning mindset.
Task #3 — Random practice of low and high passes with different feet and parts of the feet with the player moving in different directions; medium stakes with a combination of a learning mindset and performance mindset.
Task #4 — Random practice of low and high passes with different feet and parts of the feet with the player moving in different directions; medium-to-high stakes using performance mindset.
As the player develops more confidence in their ability to kick a soccer ball to the correct location with the correct height, the sessions will continue to layer on the challenges. Further progressions include changing the spin of the ball to produce a curved pass, increasing the total passing distance, and completing the correct pass while running quickly. The goal of each session is to use the first couple of tasks to activate the player’s prior knowledge and skills, then use the next tasks to extend the player’s knowledge and skills with tasks that are just outside their comfort zone. By making the task just outside their comfort zone [3] and using the high-impact types of practice, the player will continue learning efficiently and effectively.
Summary
Every discipline understands the step-by-step process of doing and thinking. Renowned American physicist Jerrold Zacharias said that “it was always the right foot of empirical evidence that determined the left foot of theory in physics” (Scientists in the Classroom). The empirical evidence came from doing experiments, giving physicists information about nature. The theory was the thinking, helping physicists understand nature and figure out where to next experiment.
In the same way that physicists use experiments and theory to understand nature, we use the “do, think, do, think” cycle to learn knowledge and skills. Disorganized practice causes frustration and slow learning; properly organizing your practice leads to forward momentum and quicker learning. Following the explanations and examples will help you properly organize your practice, leading to maximizing your learning.
Next Actions
Now that you know have a guide for organizing practice, here are some questions to consider:
Are you using each type of practice? If so, how?
Are you missing any types of high-impact practices? If so, how can you incorporate the type of practice in a single session or series of sessions?
How can you create a practice plan to maximize your learning?
Let me know your answers to any of these questions by completing a message in the "About" section of this website; I would love to hear from you!
Notes
[1] The information in this article is focused more on “kind” environments that provide quick feedback cycles, though these can be extended to learning in “wicked” environments. For a different way of thinking about learning, see the information from the Naturalistic Decision Making Association.
[2] I grew up in America so the game to me will always be “soccer,” though I agree with the rest of the world that the proper name is “football.”
[3] This idea of staying just outside your comfort zone comes from Lev Vygotsky’s “zone of proximal development” and the Bjork’s “desirable difficulties.”
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