Practice Makes Better

What I appreciate about the book Make It Stick and my current professor is the emphasis on retrieval practice and the importance of developing the habit as part of my learning journey. Throughout the semester I have noticed that doing periodic retrieval practice quizzes has helped me retain the information. Between reading the book and watching videos each week, there is no way I would remember anything without revisiting the material and concepts. 

In retrospect, it's kind of funny because I practice this in real life as it relates to my career, to parenting, and to my experience as a dancer, but never really in my academic journey. I guess it goes back to those learned habits over the years and being conditioned to approach school a certain way. I'm glad to be learning new habits this semester that will have a positive impact on my learning.

Interleaving just makes a ton of sense to me. Mix it up! Mix it up! Mix it up! It keeps things fresh in my mind and makes learning more fun and engaging. As an adult college student, I have many other things on my mind that can easily distract me from school if I don't find it interesting and enjoyable, so mixing things up is not only good for connecting the dots but honestly, it also keeps me from getting bored. 

Practice makes better and I'm glad to now have these practices in my learning toolkit.