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Wait a minute -- doesn't school already offer repeated examples of the effects of practice on results? After all, what is studying but practice? And what is a

Wait a minute -- doesn't school already offer repeated examples of the effects of practice on results? After all, what is studying but practice? And what is an exam, but a way to measure one's skills (and therefore compare them)? In other words, this message is already pounded into students' heads every day. The problem is, there's not always a direct link between the number of hours of studying and a student's grade on a test. How many times have you or a friend spent hours and hours preparing for a test only to get a barely passing grade, when the guy in the next row barely studied but got an A? Incidents like these tend to be demotivating and have the opposite effect of what Adams is striving for. Students then feel that effort doesn't yield results. Sometimes they just give up and stop expending more effort. Certainly that's not the correct reaction. (Those students should get help adjusting the way they study and what they study until their effort pays off.) But I imagine it's probably the same reaction that you'd get if you were to try an experiment like Adams is suggesting with 8-ball or bowling or soccer or whatever activity you choose.

praptak 16y ago
"Wait a minute -- doesn't school already offer repeated examples of the effects of practice on results?" No, not in the sense that Adams proposes. The key factor is missing, that is the published practice logs.
- dcx 16y ago
  This is true. I did high school in Western Australia, where your university admission is determined by a percentile scaled factoring in your peers' scores, school and other information. It's complex but the end result is a very fair system. However an unfortunate side effect is that your classmates' scores going down makes your score goes up. We found out years after graduation that there were quite a few students who actively hid the amount of study and after-school tuition they did, possibly due to the above incentive. In school they felt like naturally talented geniuses, which made it feel futile to compete. Kids don't really have a clear picture of hard work creating ability, because in their experience they only see talent and potential, not end results. I think Adams' idea would be a pretty good demonstration of this.
Robin_Message 16y ago
There's another problem with school that I think links this in with Eric Raymond's "Curse of the Gifted" -- namely that the smart kids do well without practice. The message that, to compete at the best of your potential, you need to practice does not get through to smart students. More clearly illustrating the link between practice and success would do a great service to the smart kids who are coasting. As for exams, it would be better if students worked at their own pace and took exams as soon as they were ready for them.

praptak 16y ago

"Wait a minute -- doesn't school already offer repeated examples of the effects of practice on results?" No, not in the sense that Adams proposes. The key factor is missing, that is the published practice logs.

dcx 16y ago
This is true. I did high school in Western Australia, where your university admission is determined by a percentile scaled factoring in your peers' scores, school and other information. It's complex but the end result is a very fair system. However an unfortunate side effect is that your classmates' scores going down makes your score goes up. We found out years after graduation that there were quite a few students who actively hid the amount of study and after-school tuition they did, possibly due to the above incentive. In school they felt like naturally talented geniuses, which made it feel futile to compete. Kids don't really have a clear picture of hard work creating ability, because in their experience they only see talent and potential, not end results. I think Adams' idea would be a pretty good demonstration of this.

Robin_Message 16y ago

There's another problem with school that I think links this in with Eric Raymond's "Curse of the Gifted" -- namely that the smart kids do well without practice. The message that, to compete at the best of your potential, you need to practice does not get through to smart students. More clearly illustrating the link between practice and success would do a great service to the smart kids who are coasting. As for exams, it would be better if students worked at their own pace and took exams as soon as they were ready for them.