âAppropriate practice is the single most neglected aspect of effective instruction.â
(Merrill, 2001)
This is one of MANY reasons why gamification can be helpful in formal learning. We can reward practice. We SHOULD reward practice.
I used to think that we should never give out marks for “effort”.
While I still think that it should not be possible to pass a course just because you tried really hard, I DO think we should be rewarding students for things like
- mastering each step in a series of progressively more challenging objectives
- submitting multiple versions of certain kinds of learning tasks
- participating in class
- reflecting on learning tasks after they are complete
- providing critical feedback
ALL of these things are related to practice.
And practice is related to mastery.
From the article:
The myths of mastery
How long does it take to become a master of your craft?
Is talent something youâre born with, or something you acquire through learning?
And what do highly-skilled people do differently from the rest of us mortals?
Researchers have been searching for answers to these questions for decades. And recently, they made a surprising discovery.
The crème de la crème?â?or âexpert performersâ, as theyâre officially known?â?all have something in common.
(And itâs not 10,000 hours.)
Source: (Deliberate) practice makes perfect: how to become an expert in anything