Mental Practice as a Technique to Improve Laboratory Skill Development Warren F. Beasleyl Department of Education, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Q. 4067. Australia Henry W. Heikkinen Department of Chemistry, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 Distinct laboratory objectives which emphasize the development of student psychomotor skills have been identified b i several authors. (1-3). This paper reports recent research into the design and application of physical and mental practice techniques for the development of laboratory psychomotor skills of freshman chemistry students. Reseaich activity concerning the development of manipulative or motor learning has traditionally been the domain of nsvcholoeists. nhvsical educators. and industrial educators. ~ h e s groups e have considered practice to be a key condition in learning motor skills. The amount of practice and suhsequent learning generally has been assumed to be a function of the period of time the individual uarticiuates. . . or the number of repetitions that are completed.. An emphasis on the overt or physical performance of the task to be learned is consistent with the philosophy of learning by doing (4). Here now exists evidence, however, to suggest that physical proficiency might be enhanced by mental practice which precedes, accompanies, or follows the performance (5-6). The term mental practice is used to signify the introspective or covert rehearsal that takes place within an individual. Research suggests that the following guidelines he recognized if some form of mental practice is to he employed (7). 1) The effectiveness of mental practice is related to the degree of familiarity with the physical performance of the task.
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' Copies of the Instructional Materials are available from W. F. 6.
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Journal of Chemical Education
2) Bv alternatine ohvsical oractice with mental oractice durine
to mental practice than complex movements and grass movements. 4) Most subjects need instructmn concerning the correct manner of mental practice if they are to improve their performance throueh such uractice.
6)
rate seem superior to a more structured practice. Mental practice sessions should not exceed five minutes at any one time
Design of Instructional Materials
auantitative volumetric analvsis. Skills associated with using the balance, the pipet and the buret were included. The instructional strateev emuhasized whvsical nractice and mental student was provihd with'descriptions and illustrations of the reanired skill seauence for either the pinet. buret. or halance. The learner thus gained an unders'ta;d& of the task and the a u p r o ~ r i a t eresponses. After conceutualizine the laborator;
