When our kids were young, they would sometimes do something that was kind of cute and then do it again, and again, and again. We had a little saying that we applied in this situation – first time funny, second time stupid, third time a spanking. I don’t remember actually following through on the threat and I am not certain that our saying was original, but you get the idea.
I now have the same reaction when I hear certain expressions used in a professional environment (e.g., convention presentations). It is getting to the “third time” for “drill and kill”, “sage on the stage”. etc.
What is the “kill” in drill and kill supposed to mean anyway? Kill meaningful learning. Kill student interest.
If you commonly use “drill and kill”, I would recommend that you read a recent American Educational Research Journal article by Peladeau, Forget and Gagne (2003, 40, 769-801). The article concerns the use of practice items in college quantative methods courses. As part of the introduction to their research, the authors note that educators tend to belief that repeated practice has a negative effect on student attitudes and motivation and point to expressions such as “drill and kill” used by influential writers as part of the problem. They challenge the research community to produce a study showing such detrimental effects and point to several studies, including a study contrasting drill activities with other types of learning software, that appear to indicate a positive impact on student motivation. They conclude their article by returning again to the concern that focusing exclusively on complex learning situations (I assume such approaches as problem based learning) at the expense of sequenced instruction and practice may be counterproductive. Instead, they encourage a view that promotes how different methods might complement each other rather than focusing on differences and an either/or mentality. We have tried to say this same thing ourselves – it is balance among learning activities that we are promoting. We encourage greater, but not exclusive, use of project based learning and other experiences focused on promoting meaningful experiences.
The study itself demonstrates the value of practice and overlearning in the college classes studied.
