DEFINITION

Practice : is the way to get the familiarity and

expertise
Drill : is the repetitious and paced reviews of
concept
Practice and Drill : is to promote the
acquisition

of

knowledge

repetitive practice

or

skill

through

THEORETICAL
BACKGROUND
Drill and practice is rooted in the theory of behaviorism.
It focuses on the repetition of stimulus-response

practice that leads to strengthening of habits and

consequently facilitates mastery of content learning.
It operates on the concept of reinforcement.

PURPOSES
1.

Trains

learners

repeatedly

to

master

new

information or perform a new act.

2. Helps students learn discrete skills or processes well.
3. Trains learners repeatedly to achieved automated
performance in the lower-level sub skills before they
proceed to the higher level of complex skill.

SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE
According

to

neuroscientists,

repeated

experience

is

necessary in forming connections or synapses between the

brain cells.
Practice is importance because the brain will retain the
learning experience longer when these connections are
strengthened and reinforced through repetition.

USES
Commonly

used

by

school

teachers

to

drill

students on the past year examination questions in

pursuit of excellent academic examination results
Helps less-able students to score in a fact-based
examination

IN CLASSROOM TEACHING
Practice and Drill activities can be applied in various stages of the
teaching process:
1. To introduce the new lesson: When learners are not familiar
with new concepts, Practice and Drill exercises can guide
them to the specific theme of the lesson. Their curiosity and
attention to the lesson can be stimulated.
2. During the lesson: Learners can consolidate their knowledge
and comprehension after finishing certain sections or chapters
of the course. Short Practice and Drill exercises can give the
teacher immediate feedback about the pace of the lesson.
3. To review and evaluate learning outcomes: Practice and
Drill can be used to monitor and evaluate learners cognition.
This can take the shape of a teachers evaluation as well as of a
learners self-evaluation. The method helps teachers to test

DRILL & PRACTICE

PROCEDURE
1. The students must be informed and taught about the
underlying principles.
2. The students are given activity, procedure, or worksheet
to be completed in a set limit of time.
3. Assess the students performance and giving feedback.

GUIDELINE FOR AN
EFFECTIVE DRILL &
PRACTICE
Organize and structure the lessons/activities so as to put
emphasis on reinforcement of previously learned
concepts.
Differentiate the teaching materials according to levels
of difficulties.
Provide immediate feedback or answers to each problem
solved.
Set up a management system to keep track of learners
progress.

RESEARCH FINDING
The Effect of Drill and Practice Software on Multiplication Skills:
"Multiplication Puzzles" versus "The Mad Minute.
By Williams (2000)

Seventh grade students attending an enrichment class were divided

into two groups.

One half of the group worked with the researcher in the Apple IIe
Computer Lab and the other half worked with a certified math teacher.

 The

treatment

group

used

CAI

software,

"Multiplication Puzzles. The control group used The

Mad Minute worksheets. Each group received the
same time allotment during the study.
In a study conducted by Williams (2000), students
who used drill & practice software to learn their
multiplication facts made significant increases in
the number of facts learned as compared to
students who used traditional pencil and paper.

TYPE OF DRILL &

PRACTICE
1. Paper-based
drill
and
practice
2. Computer-based system of
drill and practice

PAPER-BASED DRILL AND PRACTICE

1. Paper-and-pencil
worksheets
2. Flash card
3. Teachers
questioning
technique

PAPER-AND-PENCIL
WORKSHEETS

FLASH CARD
Aflash cardis a set of cards containing a small amount of
information.
It is widely used as an aid to learning and memorization by way of
repetition.
Flashcards can bearvocabulary, historical dates, formulas or any
subject matter.
Flashcards exercise the mental process ofactive recall: given a
prompt (the question), one produces the answer.
Flash card can be useful at every stage of the class.

ACTIVITY: A What?
PROCEDURE

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Students sit in a circle.

You show a flash card to Student 1 and say "This is a
symbol for potassium ion."
Student 1 looks at the flash card and asks you "a
what?"
The teacher replies "a symbol for potassium ion " and
passes the flash card on.
Student 1 passes the flash card on to Student 2 and
says "this is a symbol for potassium ion ".
So it goes on until the flash card travels full circle.

COMPUTER-BASED SYSTEM OF DRILL

AND PRACTICE

Drill and practice software

COMPUTER BASED
Drill and practice software provides
opportunities for students to work on
problems or examples one at a time and
then
receive
feedback
on
their
performance.
Drill and practice software can fall into
one of three categories; flash card
activities, branching drills, and
extensive feedback activities.

 Flashcard Activities
Flashcard activity websites such as Quizlet, Study Blue, or
Flashcard Machine allow students to create a set of flashcards
and then practice using the flashcards one at a time.
Depending on the site, the student may tell the software that
they got the information correct, or the website may provide
feedback dependent on the response.

EXAMPLE.
Quizletis a website that allows teacher or students to create and
share flashcards. The students can access the link to the set of
flashcards and then choose how they would like to study the
flashcards.

Branching drills
-The software moves students to more advanced, difficult levels after

they answer a specific number of questions correct.

-The software may also send a student down to lower levels if they
answer too many questions incorrectly.
-An example of branching drill software is theFlashcard Deluxeapp
-The app provides the user with review opportunities and feedback
as they answer the questions, whether correct or incorrect.

 Extensive Feedback Activities

- With these drills, the student may get
more than a "right" or "wrong" response
from the software.
-The software is designed to give
detailed feedback to the student
instructing them on what they got wrong

 Resources
For more examples of Dill and Practice, check
out the resources linked below.
Quia-A website that allows teachers and
students to create flashcards.
ICT-This link to the ICT for Active Teaching in
Learning provides some good insight on drill
and practice activities and why to use them.
Teacher Tap- A list of some drill and practice
activities.