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Rehearsal and repetition may be bad for learning. They are even worse for learners at a distance for whom external influences such as work stress, frequent travel, deployment to war zones, and personal or family issues are creating learning anxiety. This is the conclusion reached by several learning specialists and educational psychologists who studied why students perform poorly even after adhering closely to the “practice makes perfect” traditional cognitive learning strategies of rehearsal, organization, and elaboration.

Ironically, instead of helping students perform, rehearsal and repetition may have negative impacts on performance, as well as self-concept. Unfortunately, in this case, the learning strategies actually exacerbates learning anxiety, and worsens the learner’s ability to succeed. Not surprisingly, once a distance learner gets caught in the twin trap of situational anxiety and performance anxiety (heightened by negative self concept and insecurity about learning in general), it is very likely that he or she will not finish the course, and may even drop out of the degree or certificate program.

There are several reasons why rehearsal and repetition are the wrong learning strategy choices for an individual suffering from situational or performance anxiety:

Concentration is required for rehearsal and repetition: According to some educational psychologists (Kuhl, 1992), people have finite resources for cognitive and information processing. If too much capacity is dedicated to quelling one’s anxiety by self-reassurance and relaxation techniques, there is little capacity left for the actual task at hand.

Further, if the learning situation or setting creates distractions, more cognitive resources will be required to maintain focus.

Finally, if an individual is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or there are work or family conflicts, unwanted intrusive thoughts may create even more problems with concentration, and require the marshalling of cognitive resources.

Online rehearsal and repetition often take the form of automated, interactive forms, requiring good online access and time online: Many online courses rely heavily on automated, online quizzes and “skill and drill” activities.

While these are considered effective by some, particularly if the test is in the same format, there are questions about the efficacy of skill-and-drill in the attainment of deeper learning.

Nevertheless, this is a moot point for an individual learner who cannot access the quizzes or review materials because he or she has limited access to the Internet, and may be accessing the learning activities through a very slow dial-up connection or wifi node. Needless to say, the frustration involved when one cannot access the material contributes to learner anxiety.

Motivational control lacking as boredom sets in: Motivation is an important factor in success, and anxiety acts as a huge demotivator. Further, learners may find that rehearsal and repetition — particularly in isolation, is extremely boring. Educational psychologists (Pintrich and DeGroot, 1990), have traced connections between motivation and learning strategies.

Material is too compartmentalized, content too granular, and made irrelevant to real life: Skill and drill activities involving rehearsal, and repetition are, while very labor-intensive and expensive to develop, very attractive to computer-based training and online learning activities designers. The content has fine granularity and can be reused and redeployed in many settings and under many conditions. Further, it’s a scalable way to provide instructional activities. However, all the assumptions used to support using skill-and-drill automated activities must be re-examined when learners are in hostile conditions, have little online access, and are working in isolation.

Material must be made relevant, and reconnected to real life. Further, if repetition and rehearsal are used as learning strategies, it must be made clear to the learner that the content forms an foundational underpinning for situated learning to come in the future.

Effective rehearsal and repetition occurs in groups, where immediate support is available: Although it was not mentioned in the studies, one can surmise that traditional on-campus students have formed study groups, or are required to go to lab and discuss the course material. It might be useful to examine if rehearsal, organization, and elaboration are most effective in study groups and informal communities of practice. In distance settings, collaborative strategies rarely involve the cognitive strategies, but instead tend to stress practical application focused around a set of clearly defined outcomes.

Self-Regulatory Strategies Are Critical for Online Students

Researchers (Warr and Downing, 2000) have suggested that self-regulatory learning strategies are the most effective for students suffering from learning anxiety.

Their findings can be applied to online learning as well, particularly when self-regulation (control of emotions, etc.) is combined with behavioral and cognitive learning strategies for an eclectic approach.

Motivation control: Alleviating boredom and maintaining interest by building in rewards and positive reinforcement are quite effective in an online environment. The learner who is suffering from anxiety may feel motivated to persist in the studies if the instructor provides prompt and meaningful feedback, group activities help provide a sense of connection and community, and the course content is clearly relevant to the learner’s academic, life, and personal goals.

Help-Seeking and informal study group development: Learner anxiety is augmented by frustration. Frustration can result from technical difficulties, connectivity, unclear interfaces and instructions, and ambiguous performance expectations. A responsive help desk is important, as well as a robust Frequently Asked Questions page. In addition, if possible, establish an onsite mentor or team-leader if several individuals who are taking the course are in the same place of employment or military unit.

Written help-seeking: If learners are aware that they can send e-mails to more than one person, is it very helpful. Although many online programs rely on a queued approach to inquiries to the help desk, with task-sharing, it is also useful to add a personal touch to what can be a very dehumanized elearning space. Anxiety can be exacerbated by seeking help from a faceless entity known only through the design on a computer screen. Personalizing help-seeking helps assuage anxiety.

Practical application: Learning strategies that situate the content and make connections between the content and the individual learner’s lived experience are highly effective. This utilizes a constructivist epistemology and my require a rethinking and recasting of learning activities and assessment. Further, a cognitive epistemology comes into play when the individual learner makes connections, and then begins to form categories and to organize the knowledge in systems useful to the learner. Retrieval and application of information are facilitated, and the function is fluid, seamless, and meaningful when the learner can apply the knowledge to a real-life situation, or to solve a problem perceived by the learner to be urgent and relevant.

One useful benefit of using practical application as a learning strategy for students suffering from learning anxiety (whether situational or performance-related), is that the learner can employ the new learning model to other aspects of his or her life. It is more than self-regulation, and more of an eclectic approach to learning and life.

Useful Resources

Driskell, J. E., Copper, C., and Moran, A. (1994). Does mental practice enhance performance? Journal of Applied Psychology, 78, 805-814.

Ferguson-Hessler, M. G. M., and de Jong, T. (1990). Studying physics texts: Differences in study processes between good and poor performers. Cognition and Instruction, 7, 41-54.

Karabenick, S. A., and Knapp, J. R. (1991). Relationship of academic help seeking to the use of learning strategies and other instrumental achievement behaviors in college students. Journal of Educational Psychology. 16. 117-138.

Kuhl, J. (1992). A theory of self-regulation: Action versus state orientation, self-discrimination, and some applications. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 41, 97-129.

Mueller, J. H. (1992) Anxiety and performance. In A. P. Smith and D. M. Jones (Eds.), Handbook of human performance (Vol 3, pp. 127-160). London : Academic Press.

Pintrich, P. R., and De Groot, E. V. (1990). Motivational and self-regulated learning components of classroom academic performance. Journal of Educational Psychology, 82. 33-40.

Seipp, B. (1991). Anxiety and academic performance. A meta-analysis of findings. Anxiety Research, 4, 27-41.

Snow, R. E. and Swanson, J. (1992). Instructional psychology — Aptitude, adaptation, and assessment. Annual Review of Psychology, 43, 49.

Warr, P., and Downing, J. (2000). Learning strategies, learning anxiety, and knowledge acquisition. British Journal of Psychology , 91, 311-333.

Weinstein, C. E., and Mayer, R. E. (1986). The teaching of learning strategies. In M. C. Wittock (Ed.), Handbook of research on teaching (3 rd ed. pp. 315-327). New York , Macmillan.