Most of us believe learning is better when you approach a topic with single-minded purpose: the drill-and-kill mentality that’s supposed to burn a skill into memory.
Almost everywhere you look, you see examples of this kind of massed practice: two-week programming certifications, weekend continuing education seminars for professionals, and one-week sports camps to keep athletes sharp over summer.
In math textbooks, each section is dedicated to a particular kind of problem, which you study in class and then practice by doing about twenty examples for homework before you move on. The motto is: don’t practice until you get it right, practice until you can’t get it wrong. The next section has a different type of problem, which you learn and practice. On you march, section by section, through the semester. Until the test comes, and (oh no!) all of the problems are mixed up! You stare at each problem and ask yourself “Which technique do I use? Was it in chapter 6 or 7?”
That’s because massed practice is easy. If the top of your homework says “Quadratic Formula”, you just use it, without asking why. You don’t have to consider “What kind of problem is this?” so you can select the appropriate strategy to use, because you already know. This is why word problems are hard, because few explicitly state which technique needs to be used.
As opposed to massed practice, which leaves students fuzzy on the basics and quick to forget recent material, you should study related concepts or skills in parallel, a technique called interleaving.
Surround new stuff with older stuff, to build. This strategy is harder and you’ll feel like you’re learning less, but you’ll actually get better and longer-lasting results. Prepare your brain for the unexpected by giving it the unexpected. The surprise will generate deeper processing of information so when the test comes you know how and when to use a certain strategy.
In interleaving, it’s crucial that you don’t move from a complete set of one task to a complete set of a different one. You might think 100 forehands, followed by 100 backhands, followed by 100 volleys is mixing it up, but it’s not.
The general goal of practice is to transfer to a game. A game situation is random; the skills needed at any one time change. So instead of doing 100 forehands, then 100 backhands, then 100 volleys, practice like you play. Do two backhands, then a forehand, then a backhand down the line to approach the net for two volleys and an overhead. If you practice like you play, you’ll play like you practice.