{"id":5726,"date":"2017-05-30T08:03:02","date_gmt":"2017-05-30T15:03:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.learnlets.com\/?p=5726"},"modified":"2017-05-22T21:00:05","modified_gmt":"2017-05-23T04:00:05","slug":"deliberate-practice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.learnlets.com\/2017\/05\/deliberate-practice\/","title":{"rendered":"Deliberate<\/i> Practice"},"content":{"rendered":"

A colleague pointed me to a intense \u00a0critique<\/a> of master’s programs in Instructional Design, and it raised several issues for me. So, I thought it’d be worth discussing. \u00a0The issue is that the program didn’t provide \u00a0any<\/em> practice in designing courses from go to whoa, it was all about theory. In the comments, many people talk about how the programs they went did<\/em> \u00a0include projects, but this raises issues around the role of programs as well as what practice means.<\/p>\n

Is \u00a0a master’s \u00a0supposed<\/em> to be about skill-building? \u00a0Is it \u00a0job training? \u00a0In the original academic model, I’d argue that an advanced degree would be to augment your experience \u00a0with some theory. \u00a0E.g. if you were an accountant, or an engineer, or even a designer, with experience under your belt, you’d go for a master’s to serve as reflection in developing the concepts you perform \u00a0under. \u00a0You might (and should) apply them, but that’s not the focus.<\/p>\n

David Merrill has made the case that there should be bachelor’s programs in ID, and I think this makes sense. \u00a0And maybe that’s where you’d actually get the hands-on experience designing courses. \u00a0Of course, the reality is that many master’s (and even bachelor’s degrees) have become vocational training. Which raises the second issue.<\/p>\n

Then the question becomes: how much \u00a0practice? \u00a0Indeed, if I need to develop a practical skill, I need to perform the skills. \u00a0And too much of education \u00a0and \u00a0<\/em>training, just doesn’t do it. \u00a0The author talked \u00a0about deliberate<\/em> practice: where you focus on one element with a coach there to critique your performance. \u00a0It could be faked problems, or a real apprenticeship, but it’s a tight coupling between designed action and guided reflection (what instruction \u00a0needs \u00a0<\/em>to be).<\/p>\n

Look at performance where it matters: flight, warfare, medicine. You’re gradually scaffolded from simple practice to complex. Heck, if I want to learn fire-fighting, rather than a classroom and then one go at a burning building, I’d rather have a simple building, then gradually ramp up the complexity (victims, second stories, inflammables, …). \u00a0All with some instructor yelling at me when I screwed up! \u00a0Yes, there’d be content, with animations about how fire spreads, and some facts about smoke inhalation and the like, but the focus would be on performing.<\/p>\n

And this holds true for job skills whether it’s vocational training or university (which is increasingly being expected to prepare people for jobs). \u00a0Accounting? \u00a0Analyze statements for biz problems, make recommendations for reallocation, etc. Quite a bit, that drives<\/a> you to the content.<\/p>\n

My take-home: if you have real practice, you need reflection. If you don’t, you need real practice \u00a0first<\/em>. Focused practice. Intense practice. \u00a0Scaling-up practice! \u00a0We need to get our ratios<\/a> right. \u00a0 \u00a0If you’re needing skills, then make sure you’ve got good practice up front.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A colleague pointed me to a intense \u00a0critique of master’s programs in Instructional Design, and it raised several issues for me. So, I thought it’d be worth discussing. \u00a0The issue is that the program didn’t provide \u00a0any practice in designing courses from go to whoa, it was all about theory. In the comments, many people […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-uncategorized","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nDeliberate Practice - Learnlets<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If the desire is to build skills, not refine performance, then practice is central. 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