Drill and practice is an instructional method that uses systematic repetition of concepts, examples, and practice problems (Lim, Tang, & Kor, 2012). This instructional method uses repetitive exercises to practice a skill and is similar to memorization. Students have been using drill and practice softwares more than ever because of distance education and this becoming a major part of their asynchronous work. Because of this, it is important for teachers to understand the importance of drill and practice and how it affects students’ retention rate and overall achievement.

Recently, research has looked at the relationships between achievement in drill and practice and access to these softwares. Students who had access to drill and practice programs at school and at home were most likely to have an understanding of the subject area they are working on (Peddycord-Liu, Harred, Karamarkovich, Barnes, Lynch, & Rutherford, 2018). The implementation of drill and practice was also looked at and how that is also related to student achievement. Research shows that students that are participating in timed drills are able to memorize more information (Burns, 2019). Studies have also shown that drill and practice is not the only way for students to retain information (Burns, 2019). As we look into the regularity of drill and practice in schools, we can see why it is important for teachers to incorporate it into teaching practices to promote student achievement.

Drill and practice is currently a primary application used in computers in special education. This application has demonstrated improvement in the academic skills of learning disabled and underachieving children (Waltkins, 1989). Students who had access to the drill and practice programs showed a significant attitude towards learning math and spelling. Those who did not have access to the drill and practice had a less favorable opinion towards math and spelling (Waltkins,1989). Students who had access to a drill and practice game: Spatial Temporal Math improved their overall performance in understanding math concepts (Peddycord-Liu, et al., 2018). Students played the drill and practice game on fractions consecutively for months. 1,006 students played 26 levels and completed the game, the variety of problem solving scenarios in the game improved student’s understanding of fractions (Peddycord-Liu, et al., 2018). Research proves that having access to this game helped students improve overall and develop new skills.

Access to drill and practice software can help improve student achievement and the development of new skills, but can be even more effective when students can identify when this form of practice is necessary (Lehtinen et al., 2017). Students who were given enough time to practice until mastery showed improved individual exam scores, group success rates, and long term retention (Normand et al., 2003). In a study conducted by Normand et. al. (2003), 86 percent of 200 college students acknowledged that having access to computerized drill and practice software helped them better understand the subject matter. The positive reactions of the participants show that students often prefer drill-and-practice software over other types of educational software that this learning technique often produces positive affective outcomes.

The drill and practice method is described as structured instruction that includes applications of concepts and examples as well as practice problems (Sholikhah et al. 2020). This method is very similar to memorization and involves the repetition of specific skills. Drills have been found to be an efficient way to learn more items per minute (Burns, 2019). Sholikhah et al. (2020) found that “this learning model can add accuracy, speed, perfection” when used with different subjects. Studies showed that timed drills in math helped students to improve in their knowledge of more difficult multiplication facts (Woodward, 2006). Woodward (2006) stated that students who participated in timed drills and practice performed at higher levels because they were given more opportunities to practice. Drills do help with retention, but studies show that this is not the only way for students to retain information (Burns, 2019). While looking through the research on this topic, it became apparent that this method was compared similarly to Incremental Rehearsal.

Incremental Rehearsal is an intervention that uses high repetition to teach words (Archer et al. 2010). According to MacQuarrie et al. (2002), the incremental rehearsal method is intended to introduce new words with words previously learned. The two methods are compared similarly in articles because they both focus on repetition. The drill and practice method was used in more subjects than Incremental Rehearsal. There was only one study done with using incremental rehearsal in learning math skills (Robin, 2010). Burns (2019) found that students retained more facts with incremental rehearsal. Although Incremental Rehearsal does help students retain more information, it has been proven to be more beneficial for reading words than math (Archer et al. 2010).

SUMMARY/DISCUSSION

Instructional methods and the ways students are learning is changing with the increase of technology being used in schools. With technology increasing in schools, and more devices being given to students, teachers have been finding drill and practice methods to successfully help their students retain information. This paper was a review of literature that found the importance of having access to the d&p practices and the ways d&p is being implemented. The findings were conducted on various grade levels including elementary schools, middles schools, and even in higher education/vocational schools.

According to the findings in this literature review, having access to d&p softwares plays an important role in the student’s success with the area being covered in the software. Students who had access to the devices and programs that offered this showed an overall improvement (Waltkins,1989; Peddycord-Liu, et al., 2018; Normand et al., 2003; Lehtinen et al., 2017). However, one restriction found is that students were shown to do better when they found when it was necessary to practice and if they were able to practice the skill to mastery (Normand et al., 2003; Lehtinen et al., 2017).

When we think about our research question what we find is that many people find drill and practice as effective, while others find it as efficient. Using drill and practice is effective because it gives students that repetitive practice. We also found that drill and practice is more efficient because it helps students get more practice in a small amount of time. The literature found a gap in limitation in subject areas. It is recommended that future research look into other subject areas. Although research findings can be applied to most subject areas, especially math, there are some differences that could distinguish between different subject areas. Elementary school teachers who teach all subject areas can benefit from these types of studies.