Repetition is the Mother of learning. (Ancient Greek saying I believe) When I was in the classroom I advocated that if we wanted students to learn/remember something they needed to read/hear it three times (preferentially three different ways). I practiced this by alternating acronyms with what those stood for, for example FBI and Federal Bureau of Investigation. Unfamiliar acronyms were forgotten (as to what they stood for) if not reinforced. They are only useful when used so much the contracted version stood perfectly for the longer.
And re "But it's repetition that gets things to stick. If you're trying to drive a nail into a block of wood (I would tell my student teachers), does it work better to try to drive it all the way on with one mighty thwack, or a whole series of moderate taps?"
I don't know if you are aware but carpentry scientists compared how well nails held if they were driven in by one blow and a number of weaker blows and the weaker blows technique was superior. Of course, modern house carpenters drive in nails with a single blow (often from a nail gun) but that is a cost reduction measure, not one designed to create the strongest structures.
Repetition is the Mother of learning. (Ancient Greek saying I believe) When I was in the classroom I advocated that if we wanted students to learn/remember something they needed to read/hear it three times (preferentially three different ways). I practiced this by alternating acronyms with what those stood for, for example FBI and Federal Bureau of Investigation. Unfamiliar acronyms were forgotten (as to what they stood for) if not reinforced. They are only useful when used so much the contracted version stood perfectly for the longer.
And re "But it's repetition that gets things to stick. If you're trying to drive a nail into a block of wood (I would tell my student teachers), does it work better to try to drive it all the way on with one mighty thwack, or a whole series of moderate taps?"
I don't know if you are aware but carpentry scientists compared how well nails held if they were driven in by one blow and a number of weaker blows and the weaker blows technique was superior. Of course, modern house carpenters drive in nails with a single blow (often from a nail gun) but that is a cost reduction measure, not one designed to create the strongest structures.