Page 149 - Making Instruction Work

chap 12 3/11/97 5:03 PM Page 135

relevant practice 135

6. “Now about diagnostic feedback. If their work is not OK,
will they be able to recognize what’s wrong with it? Yes,
I’m sure they will.

7. “And finally, corrective feedback. If they know what’s
wrong with their performance, can I count on them to
know what to do about it? Yes, in this instance I can.”

And that’s it. My relevant practice description will look
like this:
Relevant Practice Description:

Provide: R-Bander engine
Bench conditions
Tools
Manuals
Replacement parts
Checklist of key points
Video recording setup

Procedure: While being video-recorded, students will be
asked to replace a series of parts. For feedback,
they will review the tape and match their per-
formance to a checklist of key points.

NOTE: The procedure is the same for any objective,
regardless of whether it requires practice with hardware,
various forms of human interaction, problem-solving,
creativity, etc. Because relevant practice is the key to the
development of competent performance that will endure
in the face of adversity and the ravages of time, it is
important to use a systematic procedure in the descrip-
tion of relevant practice. That way you won’t leave out any
of the key ingredients.