Practise Makes Perfect Essays

The implication of Ericsson’s research is that formative tasks often look quite different from summative ones.Somewhat counter-intuitively, we can get better at a complex task by practising lots of different, less complex tasks.With some time and practice (and by using this game plan), you'll be on your way to practicing, evaluating and improving your writing.

The implication of Ericsson’s research is that formative tasks often look quite different from summative ones.Somewhat counter-intuitively, we can get better at a complex task by practising lots of different, less complex tasks.With some time and practice (and by using this game plan), you'll be on your way to practicing, evaluating and improving your writing.

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To get better at writing essays, therefore, the best approach may not be to write lots of essays, but to attempt to isolate the particular sub-skills that make up essay-writing, and practise those instead.

Essentially, Ericsson is distinguishing between "performance" tasks, which we might compare to summative assessments and "learning" tasks, which we might compare to formative ones.

He says that we shouldn’t just repeat the same task over and over again, but should instead look to break a complex task down into smaller steps and practise those instead.

For example, footballers often practise by doing passing drills, not by playing 11-a-side matches; musicians practise short exercises like scales, not the same piece over and over.

There is support for this idea from a different field of academic study: that of goal-setting.

In a 2001 paper, two leading researchers in this field set out a similar distinction between performance goals and learning goals.

And, unless you have your own personal writing teacher just waiting around to give you feedback each time you do a practice essay, you'll need to develop a routine to practice your skills and evaluate your own strengths and weaknesses as a writer.

If writing isn't your favorite subject, then I'd guess that dwelling on your own weaknesses when it comes to writing isn't your favorite way to spend your time.

Perhaps you just want to get a decent grade in your English course, or, better yet, to test out of an English course altogether.

Achieving those goals, of course, will take work - work as in writing sample essays and strengthening your skills over time.