Worksheet
Week 3 - Practice
Section 1: Choosing an Approriate Practice Activity
- Default practice activities
- Creating a practice activity
- Is at least some practice at the level of use?
- Should you use supplementary, narrow practice?
- How much time is on practice?
Section 2: Distributed Practice
- Adding a review schedule
- Spreading practice sessions out over time in your project
Week 3 Worksheet
Page 2 of 5Section 1: Choosing an appropriate practice activity
SECTION ONE: Choosing an Appropriate Practice Activity
Active recall is one of the most effective studying techniques. Here we will make sure, for your
learning project, that you have a practice that supports your learning.
1) Are there any default or typical practice activities for what you’re learning? Examples include:
problem sets for math, small programs for coding skills, conversation practice for languages, etc. If
you’re in a class, does the class have assignments or quizzes which offer active recall opportunities?
If so, write them here:
2) If you don’t have a default or typical practice activity, can you invent one? Below I’ve listed several
options covered in the lessons of this unit. Use spaces 4-8 to invent your own practice activity. Put a
checkmark next to the one(s) you plan to use:
# Typical Practice Activities
1
2
3
4
5
# Practice Activities Checkmark
1 Question Book Method
2 Flashcard Drills or SRS
3 Blind Explanations
4
5
6
7
8
3a) Are the practice activities you selected at the level of use? That means they should be of similar
difculty and complexity as the real-life situation you plan to use the material or the testing situation
for the class?
Yes No
Week 3 Worksheet
Page 3 of 5Section 1: Choosing an appropriate practice activity
3b) If your practice activities are NOT at the level of use, how can you compensate? One way is
to combine practice activities with opposite weaknesses (languages: textbook grammar study +
ashcard vocabulary). Another way is to do *some* practice at the level of use, but focus on a
somewhat lower level which tackles a weak point.
Suggest ways you can overcome the level-of-use problem:
4) Assuming you do have some practice at the level of use, is there an obvious weak point in your
learning process that could be supplemented with narrower types of practice?
Examples:
-You struggle with remembering words in foreign language conversations -> Vocab ashcards
-You struggle understanding algorithms in your programming -> Pencil & Paper problems
-You get stuck on the algebra in your physics class -> Algebra problems
If you feel there is an obvious weakness in your studying strategy, and a corresponding practice drill
that could repair that weakness, write them here. Otherwise, leave it blank for now (you can always
add it in later if you need it):
Week 3 Worksheet
Page 4 of 5Section 1: Choosing an appropriate practice activity
5) How much of your current time is spent on practice? Review your current project and divide the
time you’re investing into three categories:
- Coverage — activities needed to rst be exposed to the material (lectures, reading, etc.)
- Practice — active recall, problem sets and other activities that directly test your understanding
- Other — activities that are neither active recall nor coverage (rereading notes, organizing your
books, summarizing with an open book, Feynman technique with an open book, etc.)
Put your estimate for the weekly time investment in each of these categories:
Eliminating coverage, what percentage of your remaining time is spent on practice?
Category Estimated Weekly Time Investment
Coverage
Practice
Other
If the amount is less than 75%, how could you increase the amount of practice in your studying?
Perhaps, by reducing the amount spent on non-practice activities?
Week 3 Worksheet
Page 5 of 5Section 2: Distributed practice
SECTION TWO: Distributed Practice
1) Look over your project week-by-week plan. Do you have activities which allow you to practice
material from previously covered sections of your project? Please include comprehensive quizzes or
assignments.
2) If you don’t have regular review included, how could you include review so that you can spread out
your practice of concepts throughout the entire project?