how many demonstrations of a technique are ideal?

[localman]

Does anyone know of any literature (ideally scientific or academic) which discusses things like retention of knowledge following technique demonstration? In paricular, I am looking for evidence-based argument that supports, for example, the more often a technique is demonstrated the better the retention or even that just one demonstration is adequate. The purpose of my interest is self defence instruction for police and prison officers where training is only provided once a year. Thank you.

[muttley]

In my experience (not only of karate instruction but in professional restraint tuition), this is based more on the learners own learning style.

Some people pick things up better by seeing a technique once and then doing it, refining as they go, others need to see the technique loads before feeling confident enough to try whereas others want to research the technique, reading the theory behind it prior to trying it. of course, some people mix and match all learning styles.

I don't think there could be a definition of how many demonstrations is enough though.

[ps1]

Look into educational psychology books. What you'll find is the following:

Retention of information can be broken down into how the information is received.

1. Heard: Information that is heard has the lowest level of retention

2. Heard and Viewed: Things that are seen as well as heard have a higher level of retention.

3. See, Hear, and Do: When you actively participate in learning the information, you retain it much better.

However, if you're looking for how to teach LEOs techniques that they may need to draw upon 2 days or 2 years from now. That's about repetition of training. There is no way they will develop an automated response if it's something they only did once.

[JusticeZero]

The main thing you will need is not repetition (though repetition helps) but specificity.

Memories are stored relationally, so the more dissimilar the training environment and scenario is to the situation you want to train for, the more inaccessible the memory you need is. Velocity is stored poorly, so you might want to focus on technique speed as your safety valve to deal with it.

Get an uke that looks like and is dressed like a criminal, and have him act like a criminal would for the moment leading up to the technique, show the opening, and fire the slomo attack to be responded to. Officer uses the technique at slomo and brings them all the way to the arrest position. Uke might tap, but the release is as ordered by another officer. Let them run through it a few times to reach comfort, but I don't think there is a specific number needed to understand a kinesthetic problem.

This is because you want the memory to be as accessible as possible when it is needed, which means you need to stage things to create more links of similarity in training to the situation that you are training for.

[Dobbersky]

I think demonstrating a technique to a student as many times as needed.

[sensei8]

I think demonstrating a technique to a student as many times as needed.

I wholeheartedly concur!!

Learning curves vary from student to student. Demonstrate any said technique as many times as necessary until that student has their AHA moment; understand it first before exploring its many avenues.

[DWx]

In my experience (not only of karate instruction but in professional restraint tuition), this is based more on the learners own learning style.

Some people pick things up better by seeing a technique once and then doing it, refining as they go, others need to see the technique loads before feeling confident enough to try whereas others want to research the technique, reading the theory behind it prior to trying it. of course, some people mix and match all learning styles.

I don't think there could be a definition of how many demonstrations is enough though.

good post. As others have pointed out, it depends on the student and how they learn. If anything, the more a technique is practiced the better the retention.

If you wanted an academic source on it, I would search journals relating to sports science, psychology, education etc.

Most of the articles I found on learning motor skills and approaches to teaching them were behind a paywall so probably not much help to you.

[bushido_man96]

I think demonstrating a technique to a student as many times as needed.

I wholeheartedly concur!!

Learning curves vary from student to student. Demonstrate any said technique as many times as necessary until that student has their AHA moment; understand it first before exploring its many avenues.

Agreed. Keep repeating over and over.

[JusticeZero]

When we are not teaching a regular student, we often do not have the luxury of infinite repetition. These people trust you to impart useful information into their brain as efficiently as possible so that they can get back to doing their job. People do not spend weeks transforming CPR classes into a ritualistic form like a tea ceremony; they ask a doll if it's alright, then hammer clumsily away and do the best we can to give people the lifesaving skills in a single vivid session.

Do movements slowly, to encourage a much more dense learning of the technique. Do the technique with as much specificity as possible, to encourage recall when it is needed. Relate the movement to skills that they already have, even if those skills are very mundane and not ones that you would normally relate together. Connect the skills to a plausible model scenario, connecting it to the beginning and the epilogue.