e-Learning and the Science of Instruction: Proven Guidelines for Consumers and Designers of Multimedia Learning

11.9. What We Don't Know About Practice

We conclude that, while practice does not necessarily lead to perfect, deliberate practice that includes effective feedback does. We saw that explanatory feedback is more effective than feedback that merely tells learners whether their responses are correct or incorrect. We still need to know more about the best types of feedback to give. For example, should feedback be detailed or brief? We also need to know more about the best timing for feedback. Is feedback provided immediately after a response always most effective? Finally, it is easy for learners to bypass or give feedback only cursory attention. What are some techniques we can use to ensure that learners reflect on feedback? We look to future research ...