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The Effects of Interleaved Practice
Abstract
Previous research shows that interleaving rather than blocking practice of different skills (e.g. abcbcacab instead of aaabbbccc) usually improves subsequent test performance. Yet interleaving, but not blocking, ensures that practice of any particular skill is distributed, or spaced, because any two opportunities to practice the same task are not consecutive. Hence, because spaced practice typically improves test performance, the previously observed test benefits of interleaving may be due to spacing rather than interleaving per se. In the experiment reported herein, children practiced four kinds of mathematics problems in an order that was interleaved or blocked, and the degree of spacing was fixed. The interleaving of practice impaired practice session performance yet doubled scores on a test given one day later. An analysis of the errors suggested that interleaving boosted test scores by improving participants' ability to pair each problem with the appropriate procedure. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
... Since microlearning can be applied to drill certain topics or specific skills, educators may consider whether to implement "blocked" or "interleaved" practice. Many programs involve "blocked" practice in which the learner practices specific skills (eg A, B, C) one at a time in isolation (eg AAA BBB CCC) [27]. 27 An alternative to "blocked" practice is "interleaved" practice in which learners practice multiple different skills in an intermixed order (eg ABC BCA CAB). ...
... Many programs involve "blocked" practice in which the learner practices specific skills (eg A, B, C) one at a time in isolation (eg AAA BBB CCC) [27]. 27 An alternative to "blocked" practice is "interleaved" practice in which learners practice multiple different skills in an intermixed order (eg ABC BCA CAB). In interleaved practice, the amount of practice devoted to a specific skill becomes spaced, or distributed, across the learning session [27]. ...
... 27 An alternative to "blocked" practice is "interleaved" practice in which learners practice multiple different skills in an intermixed order (eg ABC BCA CAB). In interleaved practice, the amount of practice devoted to a specific skill becomes spaced, or distributed, across the learning session [27]. ...
Introduction:
Efficient interpretation of dermoscopic images relies on pattern recognition, and the development of expert-level proficiency typically requires extensive training and years of practice. While traditional methods of transferring knowledge have proven effective, technological advances may significantly improve upon these strategies and better equip dermoscopy learners with the pattern recognition skills required for real-world practice.
Objectives:
A narrative review of the literature was performed to explore emerging directions in medical image interpretation education that may enhance dermoscopy education. This article represents the first of a two-part review series on this topic.
Methods:
To promote innovation in dermoscopy education, the International Skin Imaging Collaborative (ISIC) assembled a 12-member Education Working Group that comprises international dermoscopy experts and educational scientists. Based on a preliminary literature review and their experiences as educators, the group developed and refined a list of innovative approaches through multiple rounds of discussion and feedback. For each approach, literature searches were performed for relevant articles.
Results:
Through a consensus-based approach, the group identified a number of emerging directions in image interpretation education. The following theory-based approaches will be discussed in this first part: whole-task learning, microlearning, perceptual learning, and adaptive learning.
Conclusions:
Compared to traditional methods, these theory-based approaches may enhance dermoscopy education by making learning more engaging and interactive and reducing the amount of time required to develop expert-level pattern recognition skills. Further exploration is needed to determine how these approaches can be seamlessly and successfully integrated to optimize dermoscopy education.
... A final prediction involved effects of our blocking/interleaving manipulation on accuracy. Interleaving different types of problems during practice often improves learning outcomes, but at the cost of reduced accuracy during practice (Rohrer & Taylor, 2007;Taylor & Rohrer, 2010). However, we predicted that interleaved presentation in the present study would yield higher accuracy than blocked presentation (Prediction 2.2). ...
... These findings suggest that interleaving helped participants to make connections between problems. The absence of a positive effect of interleaving on accuracy could reflect beneficial effects of interleaving on conversions being counteracted by negative effects of interleaving on performance, as found in previous studies (Rohrer et al., 2020;Rohrer & Taylor, 2007;Taylor & Rohrer, 2010). Alternatively or additionally, the absence of an interleaving benefit could reflect positive effects of blocking, which have previously been found in categorization studies involving low within-category similarity (Carvalho & Goldstone, 2014). ...
... Interleaved sequence often improves learning outcomes despite negative effects on practice accuracy (Rohrer et al., 2020;Rohrer & Taylor, 2007;Taylor & Rohrer, 2010). Thus, in the context of an intervention (unlike the present study, which provided no instruction or feedback), interleaving fraction and decimal arithmetic problems during practice may improve learning despite the absence of an immediate performance benefit. ...
Rational numbers are represented by multiple notations: fractions, decimals, and percentages. Whereas previous studies have investigated affordances of these notations for representing different types of information (DeWolf et al., 2015; Tian et al., 2020), the present study investigated their affordances for solving different types of arithmetic problems. We hypothesized that decimals afford addition better than fractions do and that fractions afford multiplication better than decimals do. This hypothesis was tested in two experiments with university students (Ns = 77 and 80). When solving fraction and decimal arithmetic problems, participants converted addition problems from fraction to decimal form more than vice versa, and converted multiplication problems from decimal to fraction form more than vice versa, thus revealing preferences favoring decimals for addition and fractions for multiplication. Accuracies paralleled these revealed preferences: Addition accuracy was higher with decimals than fractions, whereas multiplication accuracy was higher with fractions than decimals. Variations in notation preferences as a function of the types of operands involved (e.g., equal vs. unequal denominator fractions) were more consistent with an explanation based on adaptive strategy choice (Siegler, 1996) than with one based on semantic interpretations associated with each notation. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
... Spacing, interleaving, generating answers or testing oneself are referred to as desirable difficulties (Bjork, 1994). Being more difficult, they seem to slow down learning, while they in fact strengthen long-term retention (Bjork & Bjork, 2011;Carpenter et al., 2009;Taylor & Rohrer, 2010). ...
... The MOOC LHTL introduces a number of learning techniques and practical learning tips which include the Pomodoro Technique (Cirillo, 2007) to tackle procrastination, spaced repetitions (Mace, 1932), interleaving (Taylor & Rohrer, 2010), desired difficulties (Bjork, 1994), and habit forming (Duhigg, 2012). Other topics cover the two fundamentally different modes of thinking and their application to improve learning, test preparation tips, how the brain chunks information, illusions of competence and how to avoid them, memory, as well as background information from the neuroscience field. ...
... Students of the experimental group avoided this foresight bias as they used far more productive study modes. They, thereby, integrated desired difficulties that are more effective in improving learning (Bjork, 1994;Bjork & Bjork, 2011;Taylor & Rohrer, 2010) into their study behavior. Furthermore, when students space repetitions in Conjuguemos, they actually combine spacing with self-testing, the two learning techniques that were awarded the highest utility ratings (Dunlosky et al. 2013). ...
This study explored long-term changes in learning behavior of students participating in an introduction to learning how to learn. The intervention that took place during the first semester included the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) ‘Learning How to Learn’, discussions on the content of the MOOC, and hands-on practice using different learning platforms in the computer-assisted language learning (CALL) component of a Spanish 1 course. The CALL component focused on grammar, vocabulary and listening comprehension training throughout the four-semester observation period and was used in this study to verify changes in students’ learning behavior. The purpose of the study was to investigate if the changes that had already been observed during the first year, would still be noticeable in the second year and how these changes influence outcomes of students’ foreign language learning. Analyses of students’ questionnaires, observations of their study behavior when using the learning platforms, and their academic performance during the study showed that the positive changes students of the experimental group had exhibited during the first year were stable or even increased as more differences became significant compared to the first year and compared to the control group. Different from students in the control group who had not taken part in the intervention, students reported to use more learning techniques, to redo exercises with answers covered and to space repetitions instead of cramming before exams. The only exception was the decline in smartphone use while studying that had been reported in the first year. This was back to pre-intervention level in the second year. Observations of students’ use of the learning platforms confirmed answers to the questionnaires. This far more effective use of the CALL components by students of the experimental group led to better results in their academic performance. Thus, time spent on ‘Learning how to learn’ was time well spent.
... In studies that have tested interleaving benefits with mathematical tasks, interleaved practice typically leads to lower practice performance than blocked practice, but better delayed test performance. Interleaving benefits have been found for learners of different ages and for topics in algebra (Mayfield & Chase, 2002;Rohrer et al., 2014Rohrer et al., , 2015Scheiter & Gerjets, 2007) and geometry (Foster et al., 2019;Le Blanc & Simon, 2008;Taylor & Rohrer, 2010) and fraction tasks (Rau et al., 2013). However, research demonstrating interleaving benefits with math tasks has typically been limited to tasks for which the problem type is explicitly given or obvious. ...
... Rohrer and Taylor (2007) observed 89% practice accuracy and 60% practice accuracy for participants in their blocked and interleaved conditions, respectively. Le Blanc and Simon (2008) and Taylor and Rohrer (2010) observed close to 90% practice accuracy for their blocked condition and close to 70% practice accuracy for their interleaved condition. Mayfield and Chase (2002) incorporated mastery criteria into the design of their study. ...
... In how many different ways can these three medals be handed out?"). The study tested whether the typical pattern of results observed for less complex problems in prior work (Foster et al., 2019;Le Blanc & Simon, 2008;Rohrer et al., 2014;Rohrer et al., 2015: Rohrer & Taylor;Taylor & Rohrer, 2010) and in the category learning research (Eglington & Kang, 2017;Kang and Pashler, 2012;Kornell & Bjork, 2008;Sana et al., 2017Sana et al., , 2018Wahlheim et al., 2011;Yan et al., 2017) -higher performance on learning outcomes for interleaving relative to blockingwould be seen for these more complex problems. This hypothesis was tested in two ways. ...
Previous research has demonstrated benefits of interleaved practice over blocked practice for learning mathematical formulas. This experiment tested whether the benefits from interleaved practice would generalize to more complex problems, where the problem type must be inferred from information in the problem. We compared delayed test performance of participants assigned to blocked practice to participants assigned to interleaved practice who had high or low practice performance. University students (Mage = 18.97, SDage = 1.50, 64% female) learned how to solve probability word problems in blocked practice, interleaved practice, or hybrid conditions that included both kinds of practice. Conditions that included some interleaved practice outperformed a condition that included only blocked practice at delayed test. Participants with high performance on interleaved practice problems outperformed participants assigned to blocked practice at delayed test. These results suggest that interleaved practice can confer learning advantages even for more complex problems.
... Interleaving is the idea of presenting learning in different contexts for stronger memories, essentially, mixing-up the learning. When a person interleaves, he is surrounding the new material or skill with older knowledge or skills, possibly materials he already knows but has not revisited in a while, whereas repeated practice on one skill slows learning down (Taylor & Rohrer, 2010). Wang and Aamodt (2011) described interleaving using the example of two baseball players. ...
... The brain learns to quickly determine incongruities, in essence when the brain sees something that is out of order or out of place, it wakes up. Taylor and Rohrer (2010) determined that interleaving enables better discrimination and produces better scores on later tests because by mixing up learning between new and old material, one is better able to recognize old material as well as make connections between old and new material. ...
The main study skills students presently rely on are massed practice, repetition, rereading, and highlighting which cause a false sense of fluency (Bjork & Bjork, 1992). Memory has two strengths, storage strength and retrieval strength, with the theory of desirable difficulty stating that the harder one has to work to retrieve a memory, the greater the subsequent spike in retrieval and storage strength (Bjork & Bjork, 1992; Hattie, 2013). Spaced repetition, pretesting, interleaving, and regular testing are a few study skills that can lead to deeper learning. Incorporating them into teaching as well as showing students how to use them could lead to deeper learning, stronger retrieval, and longer retention. This paper examines these study skills, including examples of how to incorporate them into various classroom activities. 学習者の主な学習スキルは、集中練習、反復、再読、蛍光ペンなどでマークすることだが、これらは学習者が流暢だと思い込む要因となり得る (Bjork & Bjork, 1992)。記憶力には「保持」と「想起」の2つがあり、「望ましい困難」は、記憶を想起する為に努力すればするほど、結果的に保持と記憶力が増加するという理論である(Bjork & Bjork, 1992; Hattie, 2013)。Spaced repetition (間隔反復)、Pretesting（事前（予備）試験)、Interleaving(インターリーブ：交互配置)、定期試験は、より深い学びに至る学習スキルである。これらのスキルを授業に取り入れ、スキルの使い方を教えることは、より深い学習と学習者の達成感につながるだろう。本論文では、これらの学習スキルをどのように教室の授業活動に盛り込めるかについて具体的に検討する。
... According to [2], an estimate of 25% to 40% of students experience test anxiety or high levels of stress, nervousness, and apprehension during testing and evaluative situations which significantly interfere with their performance, emotional and behavioral well-being, and attitude toward school. Recent studies, however, have focused on comparing shuffled practice and blocked practice to examine their effects in enhancing motor skills as demonstrated in [3][4][5][6][7] and in the few areas of mathematics education as demonstrated in [8,9,10,11]. In the blocked group, the same task was repeated over and over until all trials are repeated and then would start a different task while the shuffled group practiced all the tasks in an unpredictable order. ...
... Moreover, [12] stressed that this positive benefit of shuffled practice is not found in all learning situations as various factors may affect its result which include ecological validity of the experiments (whether the experiment is done in a laboratory or in real world setting), age, gender, experience level of the learner, the type of skills, task difficulty, and the absence or presence of augmented feedback during the practice trials. In previous studies [8,9,10,11], they were all conducted only in very short span of time in a laboratory setting, problems of the same lesson type were knowledge problems (or problems that require simple recalling and/or solving only in order to arrive at a single answer) which are superficially similar (or problems that require the same method of answering). The present study was conducted to find out if there is still positive effect of shuffled format over the blocked format of practice in enhancing learning where the treatment period is longer which was done in a real classroom setting, problems of the same type were composed of knowledge problems but which were superficially different (or problems that do not have the same method of answering). ...
The paper reports on a study about the blocked practice and shuffled practice formats in mathematics problem solving conducted at Xavier University High School during 2011. The independent variables are the two formats of practice: blocked practice, a method of practice involving problems from multiple lesson types that are arranged by lesson type, and shuffled practice, an unconventional method of practice, also involving problems from multiple lesson types but two problems of the same lesson types are not arranged consecutively. The dependent variables are mathematics achievement scores and mathematics test anxiety scores. The study was conducted at Xavier University High School, Cagayan de Oro City from June 28, 2011 to September 27, 2011 to eighty-eight second year students mixed boys and girls, each belonging to either of the two intact classes, with 44 students per class. The analyses yielded a significant difference on students' achievement scores and on mathematics test anxiety as influenced by the format of practice. Students who used shuffled practice outscored those who used blocked practice in mathematics achievement test (86.62% vs. 69.20%) and in mathematics test anxiety (8.99% vs.-0.90%). Therefore, shuffled practice should be used as reinforcer of mathematics learning, be adopted when conducting reviews for national assessments and be incorporated into the exercises portions of mathematics textbooks.
... For example, interleaved study or practice has been demonstrated to benefit the learning of perceptual categories, such as artists' painting styles (Kang & Pashler, 2012;Kornell & Bjork, 2008), butterfly species (Birnbaum et al., 2013), and chest radiographic patterns (Rozenshtein et al., 2016). Interleaved study has also been shown to benefit the learning of cognitive concepts, such as mathematics formulae (Rohrer, 2012;Taylor & Rohrer, 2010), the application of non-parametric statistics to different research designs (Sana et al., 2017), the diagnosing of clinical disorders in case patients (Zulkiply et al., 2012), and the classification of organic chemistry compounds (Eglington & Kang, 2017). Finally, there is also a large body of motor skills research demonstrating the benefit of interleaving with skills ranging from simple sequences (Simon & Bjork, 2001) to large, complex movements in sports (e.g., badminton, Goode & Magill, 1986;volleyball, Jones & French, 2007;baseball, Hall et al., 1994;golf;Brady, 2016), to fine movements such as playing musical instruments (Abushanab & Bishara, 2013) and tying knots (Ollis et al., 2005). ...
... The benefit of interleaving has also been shown across different age groups. While most of the research has been conducted with college students, and young-and middle-aged adults, interleaving has also been shown to benefit learning for children (Nemeth et al., 2019;Taylor & Rohrer, 2010;Vlach et al., 2008), and for older adults (Kornell et al., 2010;Lin et al., 2012Lin et al., , 2016. ...
... Inductive category learning is an important skill, as it allows people to generalize their knowledge attained from a limited amount of experience to a wider range of novel exemplars beyond the original learning event (Ashby and O'Brien 2005). The importance of category induction has been emphasized in various fields of study, such as art (Kornell and Bjork 2008), geology (Whitehead et al. 2021), ornithology (Birnbaum et al. 2013;Wahlheim et al. 2011), medical diagnoses (Chen et al. 2015;Hatala et al. 2003) and mathematics (Taylor and Rohrer 2010;Rohrer et al. 2015). Much research, therefore, has focused on identifying the effective learning techniques to promote category induction. ...
The present study examined the effects of study schedule (interleaving vs. blocking) and feature descriptions on category learning and metacognitive predictions of learning. Across three experiments, participants studied exemplars from different rock categories and later had to classify novel exemplars. Rule-based and information-based categorization was also manipulated by selecting rock sub-categories for which the optimal strategy was the one that aligned with the extraction of a simple rule, or the one that required integration of information that may be difficult to describe verbally. We observed consistent benefits of interleaving over blocking on rock classification, which generalized to both rule-based (Experiment 1) and information-integration learning (Experiments 1–3). However, providing feature descriptions enhanced classification accuracy only when the stated features were diagnostic of category membership, indicating that their benefits were limited to rule-based learning (Experiment 1) and did not generalize to information-integration learning (Experiments 1–3). Furthermore, our examination of participants’ metacognitive predictions demonstrated that participants were not aware of the benefits of interleaving on category learning. Additionally, providing feature descriptions led to higher predictions of categorization even when no significant benefits on actual performance were exhibited.
... Several studies show that interleaved practice leads to higher learning gains than blocked practice (Brunmair & Richter, 2019). This is also true in primary school mathematics Taylor & Rohrer, 2010). However, research investigating whether all students benefit equally from interleaved practice in the primary mathematics classroom is lacking. ...
Interleaved practice combined with comparison prompts can better foster students’ adaptive use of subtraction strategies compared to blocked practice. It has not been previously investigated whether all students benefit equally from these teaching approaches. While interleaving subtraction tasks prompts students’ attention to the different task characteristics triggering the use of specific subtraction strategies, blocked practice does not support students in detecting these differences. Thus, low-prior-knowledge students would benefit from interleaving rather than blocking as it guides them through the learning-relevant comparison processes. Because these comparison processes are cognitively demanding, students’ need for cognition (NFC) could influence the effectiveness of interleaved practice. The present study investigates the role of students’ prior knowledge and NFC for the effectiveness of interleaved and blocked practice. To this end, 236 German third-graders were randomly assigned to either an interleaved or blocked condition. Over 14 lessons, both groups were taught to use four number-based strategies and the written algorithm for solving subtraction problems. The interleaved learners were prompted to compare the strategies, while the blocked learners compared the adaptivity of one strategy for different mathematical tasks. A quadratic growth curve model showed that prior knowledge had a positive influence on students’ development of adaptivity in the blocked but not in the interleaved condition. Students’ NFC had a positive impact in the interleaved condition, while it had no influence in the blocked condition. However, the effects of prior knowledge and NFC did not differ significantly between the two conditions.
... Students and their chosen universities "study, learn, research, and grow together" (GuildHE, 2015), and this is something that was made very clear to students taking part in the project. Furthermore, the benefits of interleaved study practice, where students approach a subject in several different ways, is well known (Dunlosky et al, 2013;Taylor & Rohrer, 2010) and, recently, a critical study of student-run magazines show that these types of projects have specific academic benefits for science students. Tatalovic (2008) noted that academic discussion about the benefits of student-led publications is sparse, despite the large range of skills that are acquired by students who engage with such projects. ...
This case study presents "Kelvin News": a project to encourage and support taught postgraduate (PGT) students in the School of Physics & Astronomy at the University of Glasgow in communicating their passion for Physics and Astronomy during their studies. The context, rationale, and practical implementation of the project are described. We also discuss the successes and challenges in developing the project. We identify the conflicting demands on time experienced by PGT students as being the key factor negatively affecting the project. Other limiting factors such as weak writing skills among participating students can be addressed by peer-support within the project team. Despite these difficulties, this project provides great opportunities for the students to develop further transferable skills which have the potential to benefit them in terms of academic progression, employability, social well-being, and relationship with their subject and the department. This project is well suited for use within other disciplines and other departments or universities.
... Assignments that repeat problems of the same type are termed blocked practice. Mixing different types within a problem set is interleaved practice (Taylor & Rohrer, 2010). After initial blocked practice of a new algorithm, interleaved practice that follows helps the learner explicitly and implicitly spot differences amongst similar problems (i.e., discrimination learning), and spot/remember similarities among different problems. ...
To learn mathematics, historically students had no choice but to memorize fundamental facts and apply memorized algorithms. Since 1995 in the US, all states have adopted standards to govern K-12 mathematics instruction, and in most, standards have de-emphasized memorization and emphasized reasoning based on concepts. This change assumed the brain could reason in mathematics without relying on memorized knowledge. Scientists who study the brain have recently verified this assumption was mistaken. Due to stringent limitations in working memory (where the brain solves problems), mathematical problem-solving of any complexity requires applying well-memorized facts and procedures. A decade after the implementation of standards in most states, US young adults ranked last in testing in mathematics among 22 nations. Changes are proposed to state K-12 standards, which recent scientific research suggests would substantially improve student mathematics achievement.
... When a player selects a motor skill that is incorrect, or does not meet the demands of the situation, this strengthens understanding and helps players decide which strategy or movement solution should be used in that situation (Weinstein et al., 2018, p. 96). Research shows that interleaving practise is an effective learning strategy, and leads to higher retention and transfer of motor skill (Taylor & Rohrer, 2010;Lee & Schmidt 2014). Compared with the linear lesson format that many federations are currently using, the Compete Players race to see which pair can have a floor tennis rally of 10 shots (with or without a movement variation). ...
In this article, we look at how competition is presented in the traditional mini tennis lesson, finding that it typically occurs once, at the end of the session. We then explore some of the limitations associated with competition in this format. Following that, we discuss the importance of developing competitive capabilities, and propose an alternative way of approaching the mini tennis lesson to provide more opportunity for competition while systematically developing tactical and technical skills in a manner consistent with findings from skill acquisition research. This methodological approach, we suggest, provides a more fertile environment in which to develop competitive performers alongside the tactical and technical performance factors.
... Studying each of these could be uniformly spaced within the designated eight study hours. But, if Jamie instead alternated between the twenty presentations, revisiting them in each study session in an alternating manner, learning outcomes would be improved [9,10]. Moreover, through alternating between topics, content is often learned at a deeper level and a greater understanding of the relationship between concepts is achieved [11]. ...
Medical education research has been adopting principles from psychology to improve student learning. Here is an overview and illustrative examples of six evidence-based learning strategies that have been thoroughly researched and validated in the psychology literature: spacing, interleaving, retrieval practice, elaboration, dual coding, and concrete examples. For each of these, their use within medical education and considerations that may influence efficacy are discussed. Medical education researchers should collaborate more with psychology researchers in transdisciplinary teams to better implement these strategies and more directly benefit from advances made in the psychology literature.
... Interleaved practice refers to a teaching technique where multiple exemplars from different categories are presented in a mix (e.g., ABCDCADBACBD), whereas blocked practice involves a sequence of exemplars blocked by category (e.g., AAABBBCCCDDD). Cognitive psychology research shows that interleaving results in better retention than blocking (Kang, 2016;Taylor & Rohrer, 2010). ...
... ⎯⎯⎯ 15-week course ⎯⎯⎯→ Apart from these mathematics spacing studies, still other randomized studies have found test score benefits of interleaving. These studies include both laboratory experiments with college students (e.g., Foster et al., 2019;Rohrer & Taylor, 2007; and classroom studies with college students needing remedial mathematics instruction (Mayfield & Chase, 2002), fourth-grade students learning geometry (Taylor & Rohrer, 2010), fifth-and sixth-grade students learning fractions (Rau et al., 2013), seventh-grade students learning elementary algebra (Rohrer et al., 2014(Rohrer et al., , 2015(Rohrer et al., , 2020b, and college students in quantitative science courses such as chemistry and physics (Samani & Pan, 2021). Moreover, in many of the studies, a greater dose of interleaving produced particularly large test benefits. ...
Students regularly ask, “How can I do well in your course?” They are surprised when I provide a simple answer: Take advantage of the quizzes. Quizzes are not a silver bullet, but they improve students’ recollection of course information and, importantly to students, increase performance on exams. Pre-lecture reading quizzes encourage students to arrive prepared (pre-training), ongoing quizzes promote
regular studying (spacing), and review quizzes help students revisit material from previous topics (interleaving). Central to the present discussion, all of these types of quizzes require students to retrieve information to answer items, which improves performance on later exams (testing effect, retrieval practice). Still, questions remain about how to use quizzes most effectively. In particular, should we use
harder application quizzes or easier factual quizzes to help students do well in the course? That is to say, should we throw students in the deep end early in the learning process or not?
... Interleaved study also helps to provide temporal spacing between repetitions of each category, which has been shown to enhance long-term memory. 13 Within the field of otolaryngology, this method may be particularly useful given the diversity of anatomy and associated pathologies encountered within different regions of the head and neck. ...
Objective:
This review synthesizes information from original research in the field of learning theory and the psychology of learning in order to provide evidence-based study methods to adult learners in the field of medicine.
Methods:
A literature review was conducted and results were synthesized in a narrative fashion.
Results:
Deeper levels of analysis produce longer lasting memory; therefore, the concept of creating a "desirable level of difficulty" when it comes to study material and methods has been shown to promote learning. When the learner uses a higher subjective level of effort in processing information, they can maximize the efficacy of their studying efforts. This review describes how memory encoding can be enhanced by applying several theories of learning psychology including the generation effect and the interleaving effect. The use of mnemonics, the "memory palace," and hand-written notes have also proven useful to enhance information recall. Methods that promote long-term learning including the spacing effect and delayed repetition are reviewed. Learning theory shows that the most effective learners use self-testing and forced recall to retain more information with limited study time.
Conclusions:
The application of these learning methods may help to improve information retention and productiveness among adult learners.
... 7 Interleaving has specifically been shown to improve inductive reasoning, 12,13 a skill physicians use to make predictions about novel cases based on existing knowledge. 14 While evidence suggests benefits from interleaving, [15][16][17][18][19] the technique remains understudied and underutilized at many levels of education, including graduate medical education. 20,21 In 2001, several articles in Family Medicine introduced the idea of a longitudinal approach to structuring residency train- ing. ...
Background and objectives:
Cognitive benefits of longitudinal curricula and interleaving have been demonstrated in several disciplines. However, most residency curricula are structured in a block format. There is no consensus definition as to what constitutes a longitudinal program, making comparative research on curricular efficacy a challenge. The objective of our study was to arrive at a consensus definition of Longitudinal Interleaved Residency Training (LIRT) in family medicine.
Methods:
A national workgroup was convened and utilized a Delphi method between October 2021 and March 2022 to arrive at a consensus definition.
Results:
Twenty-four invitations were sent, and 18 participants initially accepted. The final workgroup (n=13) was representative of the nationwide diversity of family medicine residency programs in terms of geographic location (P=.977) and population density (P=.123). The following definition was approved: "LIRT is a curricular design and program structure that offers graduated, concurrent clinical experiences in the core competencies of the specialty. LIRT models the comprehensive scope of practice and continuity that defines the specialty; applies training methods that enhance long-term retention of knowledge, skills, and attitudes across all dimensions and locations of care delivery; and accomplishes program objectives through employment of longitudinal curricular scheduling and interleaving with spaced repetition." Additional technical criteria and definitions of terms are elucidated in the body of this article.
Conclusions:
A representative national workgroup crafted a consensus definition of Longitudinal Interleaved Residency Training (LIRT) in family medicine, a program structure with a basis in emerging evidence-based cognitive science.
... • How do learners learn relational query processing? Numerous studies in cognitive psychology show that spacing (i.e., distributing practice over more sessions) significantly improves long-term learning compared to massing (i.e., practice in longer sessions) [9,10,39,41]. The interaction data may enable us to build models to predict learners demonstrating massing, thereby enabling timely intervention to nudge them to more effective learning habits. ...
The database systems course has gained increasing prominence in academic institutions due to the convergence of widespread usage of relational database management system (RDBMS) in the commercial world, the growth of Data Science, and the increasing importance of lifelong learning. A key learning goal of learners taking such a course is to learn how SQL queries are processed in an RDBMS in practice. Most database courses supplement traditional modes of teaching with technologies such as off-the-shelf RDBMS to provide hands-on opportunities to learn database concepts used in practice. Unfortunately, these systems are not designed for effective and efficient pedagogical support for the topic of relational query processing. In this vision paper, we identify novel problems and challenges that need to be addressed in order to provide effective and efficient technological supports for learning this topic. We also identify opportunities for data-driven education brought by any effective solutions to these problems. Lastly, we briefly report the TRUSS system that we are currently building to address these challenges.
... In guided-discovery learning, the conventional sequence of tell then do is inverted, giving learners an opportunity to try to address problems or perform a task themselves (with limited guidance) before they are provided the canonical solution or approach. Mixed or interleaved practice are additional strategies that can also be employed to similar effect (Hatala et al., 2003;Kulasegaram et al., 2015aKulasegaram et al., , 2015bTaylor & Rohrer, 2010), and can be particularly effective when combined with activities that encourage trainees to identify relationships across examples before, e.g., comparing and contrasting cases (Schwartz & Bransford, 1998). Further, when designing simulation-based training, learning and transfer may be enhanced through simulations designed in ways that purposefully deviate from real clinical tasks to highlight pertinent conceptual relationships (Cheung et al., 2021). ...
Ensuring trainees develop the flexibility with their knowledge to address novel problems, and to efficiently build upon prior knowledge to learn new knowledge is a common goal in health profession education. How trainees come to develop this capacity to transfer and transform knowledge across contexts can be described by adaptive expertise, which focuses on the ability of some experts to innovate upon their existing knowledge to develop novel solutions to novel problems. While adaptive expertise is often presented as an alternative framework to more traditional cognitivist and constructivist expertise models, it is unclear whether the non-routine and routine forms of transfer it describes are distinct from those described by other accounts of transfer. Furthermore, whether what (e.g., knowledge) is transferred and how (e.g., cognitive processes) differs between these views is still debated. In this review, we describe various theories of transfer and present a synthesis clarifying the relationship between transfer and adaptive expertise. Informed by our analysis, we argue that the mechanisms of transfer in adaptive expertise share important commonalities with traditional accounts of transfer, which when understood, can complement efforts by educators and researchers to foster and study adaptive expertise. We present three instructional principles that may better support transfer and adaptive expertise in trainees: i) identifying and incorporating meaningful variability in practice, ii) integrating conceptual knowledge during practice iii) using assessments of trainees’ transfer. Taken together, we offer an integrative perspective to how educational systems and experiences can be designed to develop and encourage adaptive expertise and transfer.
... Finally, in "Create", students will design their own code. It is suggested that students learn better with interleaved exercises than blocked ones [47]. It is therefore important to have the students practice with all types of exercises from the UMC framework. ...
... However, existing evidence generally shows that learners bene t more from interleaved practice than from blocked practice (Hartwig & Dunlosky, 2012;Kang, 2016;Kornell & Bjork, 2007;Taylor & Rohrer, 2010). ...
This chapter provides an overview of the development of three foundational cognitive processes that are relevant for learning in general and for math learning in particular: executive functions, long-term memory, and visuospatial thinking. The chapter begins by reviewing both traditional and state-of-the-art research methods that psychologists use to address questions relating to both cognitive development and learning. Next, the chapter includes a review of behavioral and neural evidence for each of the constructs of interest; an overview of how these processes develop with age; and a discussion of how these processes can inform learning, with a particular focus on K–12 math instruction. Additionally, each section describes how the development of these processes is influenced by environmental factors, such as socioeconomic status, sleep, and parenting, as well as individual variation and atypical development. Finally, the chapter offers evidence-based suggestions for improving both general learning, such as study habits and planning; and math learning, such as reasoning about fractions and algebra.
... Education researchers have recently investigated the effectiveness of interleaving different materials. A small but growing number of studies have found that interleaving has advantages over blocking in various types of learning, including sports [6,7], medical diagnoses [8], painting [9], mathematical learning [10][11][12], concept learning [13], and auditory perceptual learning [14]. A few studies have explored the benefit of the interleaved retrieval practice from the lab to the classroom [15,16]. ...
Online courses are prevalent around the world, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Long hours of highly demanding online learning can lead to mental fatigue and cognitive depletion. According to Attention Restoration Theory, ‘being away’ or a mental shift could be an important strategy to allow a person to recover from the cognitive overload. The present study aimed to test the interleaving strategy as a mental shift method to help sustain students’ online learning attention and to improve learning outcomes. A total of 81 seventh-grade Chinese students were randomly assigned to four learning conditions: blocked (by subject matter) micro-lectures with auditory textual information (B-A condition), blocked (by subject matter) micro-lectures with visual textual information (B-V condition), interleaved (by subject matter) micro-lectures with auditory textual information (I-A condition), and interleaved micro-lectures by both perceptual modality and subject matter (I-all condition). We collected self-reported data on subjective cognitive load (SCL) and attention level, EEG data during the 40 min of online learning, and test results to assess learning outcomes. The results showed that the I-all condition showed the best overall outcomes (best performance, low SCL, and high attention). This study suggests that interleaving by both subject matter and perceptual modality should be preferred in scheduling and planning online classes.
... metacomprehension). Our findings are also applicable to the literature on interleaved versus blocked practice strategies (Taylor & Rohrer, 2010) and may provide insight on a mechanism (i.e. resource depletion) behind why interleaved practice produces superior learning and transfer of novel information than blocked practice (Schorn & Knowlton, 2021). ...
The goal of the present study was to examine how cognitive resource depletion impacts reading comprehension. Participants completed either a simple typing task (control condition), or an attentionally taxing typing task (depletion condition) followed by a reading comprehension task. For both vague (difficult to understand) and concrete (easy to understand) passages, resource depletion had no effect on textbase comprehension or surface form comprehension. However, resource depletion impaired situation model comprehension in vague passages, and improved situation model comprehension of concrete passages. The results provide evidence that a depletion of cognitive resources impacts readers’ ability to form a coherent situation model, and that the impact of resource depletion differs as a function of passage difficulty. We conclude that successful situation model construction is dependent on the attentional and working memory resources that are available to the reader.
... In education, long term memory is the target of each educator. Taylor and Rohrer (2010) suggested that teachers may help their students by assigning topics in a way that lead to distributed practice. Metamemory deals to judgments and decisions individuals make about their own learning and memory (Metcalfe, 2009). ...
This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of Past-Based Approach in the academic performance of Grade 8 students in English. Mixed method approach was employed for a more comprehensive analysis of data. Quasi-experimental design was first utilized which is followed by qualitative research. Control and experimental group were chosen from the Grade 8 students which are clustered heterogeneously. While 5 students who met the qualification were interviewed to share their insights about the effectiveness of PBA. Standardized test from the Division Office was used as a tool for pretest and posttest. The experimental group was exposed to PBA while the control group was taught using the traditional way. Scores were interpreted using mean and t-test. It was revealed that the experimental group had a tremendous increase in their academic performance compared with the control group. The analysis of two means magnified that the difference between the two means is statistically significant. This denotes that PBA is effective in improving the academic performance of Grade 8 students in English. After which, students underscored that connecting previous to lessons and repeating the tough topics is what makes PBA effective. Study suggest that PBA must be tested with other grade level or learning area.
... Finally, our study only examined within-category orders, in particular rulebased vs. similarity-based orders. Other types of orders, such as interleaved vs. blocked study or dissimilarity-based vs. similarity-based orders, has been largely proven to impact the way we learn and represent categories as well (Birnbaum et al., 2012;Carvalho & B. Albuquerque, 2012;Carvalho & Gold-585 stone, 2014b, 2015a ;Carpenter & Mueller, 2013;de Zilva & Mitchell, 2012;Kang & Pashler, 2012;Kornell & Bjork, 2008;Kornell et al., 2010;Kost et al., 2015;Kurtz & Hovland, 1956;Mathy & Feldman, 2009;Rawson et al., 2014;Rohrer, 2009Rohrer, , 2012Sana et al., 2016;Taylor & Rohrer, 2010;Yan et al., 2017;Wahlheim et al., 2011Wahlheim et al., , 2012. A 590 fourth perspective includes the study of the ability of the existing categorization models to predict whether different study sequences will be more or less beneficial to learners. ...
Most categorization models are insensitive to the order in which stimuli are presented. However, a vast array of studies have shown that the sequence received during learning can influence how categories are formed. In this paper, the objective was to better account for effects of serial order. We developed a model called Ordinal General Context Model (OGCM) based on the Generalized Context Model (GCM), which we modified to incorporate ordinal information. OGCM incorporates serial order as a feature along ordinary physical features, allowing it to account for the effect of sequential order as a form of distortion of the feature space. The comparison between the models showed that integrating serial order during learning in the OGCM provided the best account of classification of the stimuli in our data sets.
... Learning through category induction is a primary method by which humans acquire knowledge (Kruschke, 2005;Brunmair and Richter, 2019). Category learning, also known as concept attainment, span from infancy through to adulthood, and include learning the label of novel objects (Vlach et al., 2008), different species of birds (Wahlheim et al., 2011), landscapes or skyscapes painted by different artists (Kornell et al., 2010), or different types of mathematics assignments (Taylor and Rohrer, 2010;Rohrer et al., 2015). To engage in category induction, individuals must be able to identify recurring patterns (Ashby and O'Brien, 2005;Eglington and Kang, 2017;Sana et al., 2017). ...
Interleaved practice (i.e., exemplars from different categories are intermixed within blocks) has been shown to enhance induction performance compared to blocked practice (i.e., exemplars from the same category are presented sequentially). The main aim of the present study was to examine explanations of why interleaved practice produces this benefit in category induction (known as the interleaving effect). We also evaluated two hypotheses, the attention attenuation hypothesis and the discriminative-contrast hypothesis, by collecting data on participants’ fixation on exemplars, provided by eye-tracking data, and manipulating the degree of discriminative-contrast. In Experiments 1 and 2, participants were instructed to learn the style of 12 new artists in blocked and interleaved practice in fixed-paced and self-paced learning conditions, respectively. We examined fixation durations for six positions (temporal sequence of exemplars presented in each block) using eye-tracking. The results of the two experiments, based on eye-tracking data, suggested that attention attenuation may not be the primary mechanism underlying the interleaving effect in category induction. In Experiment 3, we manipulated the degree of discriminative-contrast to examine the impact on the interleaving effect in category induction. The results showed that the main effect of the degree of discriminative-contrast was significant, and performance in the high-contrast condition was significantly better than those in the medium-contrast and low-contrast conditions. Thus, the current results support the discriminative-contrast hypothesis rather than the attention attenuation hypothesis.
... One strategy with a very high impact on learning performance concerns the use of distributed practice (i.e., scheduling study activities spread over a period of time) and practice testing (i.e., self-testing on material to be learned by solving practice problems or answering questions) (Adesope et al., 2017;Rowland, 2014, for a review). Other strategies have proved effective in certain settings and domains, such as interleaved practice (adopting a study schedule that alternates between different types of problem or material), elaborative interrogation (thinking of an explanation for why a given fact or concept is true), and self-explanation (considering how new information relates to known information) (Kang & Pashler, 2012;Taylor & Rohrer, 2010;Smith et al., 2010). Studying also needs to be monitored (goal monitoring). ...
"Students can encounter difficulties in their academic careers, regarding their studying skills, for instance, or experiencing negative emotions. Both are amenable to training and related to one another. This study aimed to examine the efficacy of two interventions focusing on studying skills or emotional skills. Two groups of students with academic difficulties participated: 30 worked on study-related aspects (Study skills group); and the other 30 attended lessons on emotions in everyday life (Emotional skills group). They were tested before and after the training on measures of their motivation to learn, self–regulated learning strategies, and emotions (positive and negative emotions). The results showed that both groups benefited from the training. The Study skills group improved specifically in incremental theory of intelligence (d=0.94, p<0.001), self–regulated learning strategies (organization: d=0.74, p<0.001; elaboration: d=0.58, p<0.001; preparing for exams: d=0.78, p<0.001, specific effects), and more positive emotions about their academic performance (d=0.64, p<0.001, transfer effect). The Emotional skills group showed smaller effects on study-related aspects (0.10≤d≤0.49), with a large effect on negative emotions about the self (d=– .87). These results offer insight on how to approach students’ academic difficulties."
... Although the interleaved sequence might feel more difficult to learners and lead to more mistakes during practice compared to the blocked sequence (Taylor & Rohrer, 2010), many experiments have demonstrated cases in which interleaving is superior (see Brunmair & Richter, 2019 for a meta-analysis). The interleaving effect has been replicated with various types of stimuli-from motor skills (e.g., piano playing; Abushanab & Bishara, 2013) to perceptual categories (e.g., artist paintings styles, bird families, chest x-rays, fish; Kornell & Bjork, 2008;Rozenshtein et al., 2016;Wahlheim et al., 2011;Yan & Sana, in press) and cognitive concepts (e.g., chemistry compounds, math formulae, statistics, clinical disorders; Eglington & Kang, 2017;Rohrer et al., 2015;Sana et al., 2017;Zulkiply et al., 2012). ...
Attention- and memory-based accounts of sequencing effects in category learning are often pitted against one another, but we propose that both are important. We created an unsupervised learning task in which the rules governing categories would be difficult to notice under interleaved sequences. Specifically, participants were presented with Chinese characters and their meanings. Category-related characters all shared a subcomponent (“radical”), but participants had to abstract this rule. No character was repeated. On the day-delayed test, participants were shown new Chinese characters and asked to select a possible meaning to test category induction. Under both passive (Experiment 1) and active (Experiment 2) study, we found no interleaving benefit. However, when we eliminated the demand on attentional processes by directing attention to the rules (Experiment 3), we obtained an interleaving benefit. We discuss implications for how sequencing decisions should not only depend on the stimuli but also the learning task.
... To guide delivery, the author's instructional coaching framework was used: Distributed, Repetitive, Compare/Contrast, Higher-Ordered Thinking Skills, Interleave & Interactive, Goal Setting, and Graphical representation or DR. CHI 2 GG as a checkup for implementing evidence-based instruction (Beauchamp & Kennewell, 2010;Cook et al., 2013;Gettinger et al., 1982;Kozlowski & Bell, 2006;Krug et al., 1990;Lin et al., 2013;Rau et al., 2015;Schunk, 1990;Taylor & Rohrer, 2010). As shown in Figure 2, staff were instructed to follow the I-We-You format, with admonitions for variety to generate interest and the inclusion of high school level work, even if the students were very far behind. ...
While proponents claimed Response to Intervention (RtI) improved student learning and prevented failure, there was an absence of research in effectiveness. Applying action research within a case study, there was an investigation into the process of reforming and improving RtI within a short-term juvenile detention center in the Midwest of the United States for students in grades 5-12. Using the conceptual framework of adaptive leadership, there was an analysis of policies and procedures, observations, interviews, and student work. RtI as a stand-alone program revealed many teachers lacked evidence-based instructional methods and alternative teachers lacked content knowledge, making implementation difficult. Within the action research method, role ambiguity caused problems with fidelity, with the need to infuse strategic leadership with action research when teachers' sense of self and professional were challenged.
... Educators might provide more practice opportunities in which different problem types are interspersed, thus requiring children to decide which procedure to use on each problem. Interleaving practice problems has improved learning of algebra and geometry (Rohrer & Taylor, 2007;Taylor & Rohrer, 2010) and would likely do so for decimal arithmetic as well. ...
To explain children's difficulties learning fraction arithmetic, Braithwaite et al. (2017) proposed FARRA, a theory of fraction arithmetic implemented as a computational model. The present study tested predictions of the theory in a new domain, decimal arithmetic, and investigated children's use of conceptual knowledge in that domain. Sixth and eighth grade children (N = 92) solved decimal arithmetic problems while thinking aloud and afterward explained solutions to decimal arithmetic problems. Consistent with the hypothesis that FARRA's theoretical assumptions would generalize to decimal arithmetic, results supported 3 predictions derived from the model: (a) accuracies on different types of problems paralleled the frequencies with which the problem types appeared in textbooks; (b) most errors involved overgeneralization of strategies that would be correct for problems with different operations or types of number; and (c) individual children displayed patterns of strategy use predicted by FARRA. We also hypothesized that during routine calculation, overt reliance on conceptual knowledge is most likely among children who lack confidence in their procedural knowledge. Consistent with this hypothesis, (d) many children displayed conceptual knowledge when explaining solutions but not while solving problems; (e) during problem-solving, children who more often overtly used conceptual knowledge also displayed doubt more often; and (f) problem solving accuracy was positively associated with displaying conceptual knowledge while explaining, but not with displaying conceptual knowledge while solving problems. We discuss implications of the results for rational number instruction and for the creation of a unified theory of rational number arithmetic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
... Interleaving practice According to the interleaving practice principle, spreading out learning opportunities causes better long-term retention of information than providing multiple learning opportunities, one right after the other (i.e., massed practice; (Dunlosky et al., 2013). Researchers have found that students who received interleaving practice outperformed on the follow-up tests compared to their peers who received block practice (Taylor & Rohrer, 2010) asking students to solve mathematics problems on different content areas (addition, subtraction, place values) provides more opportunities for students to detect their errors and refine their knowledge on different mathematics content areas (Li et al., 2012). In addition, interleaving practice can help students build a strong relationship between problem types and appropriate solution strategies (Rohrer et al., 2014). ...
Previous studies demonstrate the positive effects of explicit mathematics intervention on the mathematics outcomes of students at risk for mathematics difficulties (MD). One such intervention was the Tier 2 Booster Intervention (T2BI), a supplemental mathematics intervention focused on whole number concepts and skills that detailed the explicit and systematic instructional design of T2BI. However, findings from past research suggest that some students do not adequately respond to this purposefully designed intervention. Against that backdrop, the focus of this study is to address this notion of minimal response to intervention by integrating a select set of validated Cognitive Learning Principles (CLPs) into T2BI and investigating the extent to which students with MD respond favorably to the resulting intervention. Employing a multiple baseline design, our results showed a functional relation between the provision of an intervention with CLPs and increasing accuracy scores on both proximal and distal measures across the four participants with MD. These findings and their broader implications using CLPs to reduce minimal response to well-designed mathematics interventions are discussed.
Multiple lines of research have developed training approaches that foster category learning, with important translational implications for education. Increasing exemplar variability, blocking or interleaving by category-relevant dimension, and providing explicit instructions about diagnostic dimensions each have been shown to facilitate category learning and/or generalization. However, laboratory research often must distill the character of natural input regularities that define real-world categories. As a result, much of what we know about category learning has come from studies with simplifying assumptions. We challenge the implicit expectation that these studies reflect the process of category learning of real-world input by creating an auditory category learning paradigm that intentionally violates some common simplifying assumptions of category learning tasks. Across five experiments and nearly 300 adult participants, we used training regimes previously shown to facilitate category learning, but here drew from a more complex and multidimensional category space with tens of thousands of unique exemplars. Learning was equivalently robust across training regimes that changed exemplar variability, altered the blocking of category exemplars, or provided explicit instructions of the category-diagnostic dimension. Each drove essentially equivalent accuracy measures of learning generalization following 40 min of training. These findings suggest that auditory category learning across complex input is not as susceptible to training regime manipulation as previously thought.
The present text has as its general objective to deal with the timeless relationship between neuroplasticity, human memory and learning. In addition, it is intended to deal specifically with the main aspects that influence memory, such as emotions, moods and the level of attention. This theme is of crucial importance for Brazilian students, since, as it is known what positive and negative influence on memory, it is possible to obtain better results in terms of learning. As a research modality, bibliography is adopted; as a method, the inductive is used.
Students today enjoy unprecedented freedom and autonomy to choose and manage what, when, where, and how they learn. However, many students squander these opportunities by embracing learning techniques that, at best, can help them attain short-term performance objectives but are relatively ineffective at fostering long-term learning and retention. This chapter describes research findings that highlight and address some of the most common misconceptions and cognitive biases that can impede or undermine self-regulated learning processes. The authors propose several research-based recommendations for addressing these misconceptions and biases in the design of self-regulated learning programs and curricula. These include integrating “desirable difficulties” in learning; instructing students about effective learning strategies along with common myths, misconceptions, and biases of learning; and tailoring interventions to improve critical social and emotional learning skills and mitigate relevant cognitive biases.
This paper presents the Cognitive Instructional Techniques (CIT) observation instrument-a novel tool to assess the degree to which teaching practice is congruent with instructional techniques that have emerged from cognitive science. The paper includes a description of CIT, the process by which it was developed, and initial findings related to its use. CIT includes a 0-4 rating scale (0 = not observed to 4 = high congruence) for eight instructional techniques: Anchoring, Guided Instruction, Multiple Representations, Quizzing, Self-Explanation, Signalling, Variable Practice, and Worked Examples. The instrument was used to code randomly selected videotaped 4th and 5th grade mathematics lessons in the USA (N = 42) selected from the Measures of Effective Teaching Project database (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, 2018). Results of this proof-of-concept study indicated that the CIT instrument captures variability as well as stability in teaching practice. Overall, teaching practice was found to be congruent with some instructional techniques advocated for by cognitive researchers (e.g., testing), but not others (e.g., self-explanation). For instance, half of the instructional lessons in the sample did not use multiple external representations to explain math concepts and less than a quarter demonstrated the use of multiple representations in a manner consistent with what research has identified as most effective. This initial study indicated the potential usefulness of the CIT instrument in determining the extent to which instructional practice is congruent with ideas from cognitive science. The ways in which CIT could create further intersections between cognitive science and education are discussed.
The aim of the research is to study the impact of The
interleaved learning strategy in a blended learning environment on
cognitive achievement for students with middle school learning
disabilities (LD) in Kuwait, and the research sample (50) students
in the sixth grade average of government education schools
specialized in teaching students with learning disabilities (LD),
and applied a pre-learning test then the sample was taught with
interleaved learning strategy where five concepts were given to
the subject of ratio and proportionality of the virtual class
without intervals and then repeated the same period of time and
then repeated the same Concepts in a different order of the
following classes in order to stimulate neural pathways to retain
information in long-term memory after which a post- learning
test was applied and the results showed the positive impact of
both the interleaved learning strategy and the e-learning
environment at the level of achievement and acquisition of
knowledge among students
Novice programmers, who have yet to form effective mental models of the domain, often experience high cognitive load, low confidence, and high anxiety, negatively affecting learning and retention rates. These cognitive and affective limitations pose an instructional challenge. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a whole-task instructional approach compared with a part-task instructional approach for novices learning to program from a cognitive and affective perspective. A fully randomized between-subjects controlled experiment was designed, including two online instructional conditions (whole-task vs. part-task). The whole-task condition followed the Task-Centered Instructional Strategy and included explicit instruction in the context of whole tasks. The part-task condition followed a part-task instructional strategy and included the same explicit instruction, yet in the context of objectives and topic-related tasks. Based on Bandura’s triadic model (Bandura, Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory, Prentice-Hall, 1986), we propose a conceptual model, which we used to hypothesize that the Task-Centered Instructional Strategy may be more effective for novices learning to program. Sixty-five students with no programming experience volunteered to participate in the study and were randomly assigned to one of the conditions. Participants in the whole-task condition performed significantly better on the near and far transfer posttests. In accordance with our model, confidence and cognitive load during learning were found to be significant partial mediators of the effect of instructional strategy on performance. Overall, we found that the task-centered instructional strategy, combining explicit instruction with whole-tasks, is effective for addressing the cognitive and affective considerations relevant to novices in computer science education.
The aim of this study was to explore how pre- and in-service teachers (N = 346) evaluate different learning strategies for six scenarios, and how they justify their answers. Results showed that teachers mostly evaluate strategies found to be effective in previous empirical studies as more effective and they can provide proper scientific justifications, though some justifications included misconceptions. Teachers were most confused when comparing interleaving versus blocking and retrieval versus concept mapping. Configural frequency analysis showed that justifications were generally, but not always, consistent with evaluations. These findings refer to the importance of examining teacher knowledge both with evaluations and with open-end questions. Misconceptions identified by justifications comprise useful information for planning teacher-training courses.
An understanding of microbiological concepts is important for all citizens because we are all affected by microbial life on Earth. Microbes play a role in our food manufacture, affect our individual health and microbial growth underpins our healthy environments. Teaching microbiology, particularly at primary and secondary school levels, tends to focus on human pathogens and ways to ensure that we remain healthy. Although important (and never more so during the global SARS-CoV-2 pandemic), these lessons rarely describe the importance of microbes to other aspects of our lives or emphasise that the vast majority of microbial species will not cause human disease. In order to improve microbial literacy and to elevate decision making by governments and other agencies to include correct microbial concepts, interesting, relevant and safe education should be provided throughout primary and secondary school and be continued during tertiary study. This chapter discusses microbiology education at all levels and goes on to describe excellence in teaching practice including the provision of online exercises and the value assigned to these activities by students. Improved microbial education will improve decision-making that involves microbes, and that is important for all of us.
Purpose: To understand how educational disparities unfolded after COVID-19 broke out, this study examined differences in effects of relevant factors on academic achievements before and after the COVID-19 outbreak.
Design/methodology/data/approach: Data collected in two time points (2019 and 2020) from 2,699 middle school students as part of the Busan Education Longitudinal Study were used. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied to investigate the changes in relationship of the educational outcomes in Korean Language, English Language, and Math, with parental education, parental support, education expenditure, learning attitude, self-directed learning,
and previous achievement.
Findings/Results: The distributions of test scores demonstrated the possibilities of learning loss in subjects of Korean and English and educational disparities in the subjects of Korean and math. The SEM results revealed that student variables became more influential than parent variables after the pandemic. Especially, the effect of previous achievement on current achievement and the effect of self-directed learning on learning attitude became more prominent.
Value: This study provides empirical evidence of the possible effects of COVID-19-related disruptions in education on educational achievements and disparities.
Distributed practice improves learning by requiring the brain to expend extra effort retrieving prior learning after a time delay. I examine whether repeating the most troublesome homework question on the next assignment improves exam performance within one large upper-level undergraduate economics course. I compare exam outcomes of students enrolled in Fall 2017 as my control group (N = 136) with those of the intervention group in Spring 2018 (N =163). Adjusting for differences in student characteristics, the intervention was associated with a statistically significant (at the 90% level) increase of 2.44% in final exam scores, with raw average scores of 84.6% versus 81.7%. No difference was found post-intervention in overall course scores, while small increases for midterms. Subgroup analysis suggests the benefits may accrue more to the strongest and weakest performers. Findings suggest that repeating troublesome problems could improve learning in economics.
Los estudios del lenguaje matemático en la investigación en matemática educativa han mostrado la importancia de enfocar esfuerzos tanto en la especificación de las habilidades lingüísticas que los estudiantes deben desarrollar en el aprendizaje de ese lenguaje, como en la consideración de los aspectos multimodal y multisemiótico que lo caracterizan. Por esta razón, en esta investigación se busca un primer acercamiento al entendimiento de la naturaleza multisemiótica de textos algebraicos antiguos con la intención de compararla, en una siguiente fase del estudio, con la naturaleza multisemiótica de textos de estudiantes de bachillerato. Reportamos parte de los resultados de un análisis lingüístico sistémico-funcional del discurso multimodal de tres textos algebraicos, que deja ver estructuras discursivas complejas que conllevan el uso sistemático de distintos recursos semióticos y su articulación en la producción de los significados algebraicos pretendidos en estos textos.
Con el uso de actividades universales se amplió el modelo de conexiones internas y externas entre sistemas de medidas. La metodología fue cualitativa-etnográfica desarrollada en tres etapas: (1) se seleccionaron los participantes y se hizo la observación no participante para la familiarización; (2) se aplicaron entrevistas semiestructuradas para recolectar la información partiendo de la pregunta: ¿cómo realizan su práctica cotidiana?, considerando videograbaciones y dibujos, y (3) se estudiaron los datos a través del análisis temático junto con la visión etnomatemática. Los resultados muestran que en las conexiones internas y externas entre sistemas de medidas evidenciadas en prácticas cotidianas (pelea de gallos, fabricación de cometas para la diversión y para la pesca, y elaboración del bollo de yuca) se usan medidas como el metro, la altura del ombligo, la cuarta, la braza, el jeme, el milímetro, entre otros. Además, se extendió el modelo de conexiones, puesto que la medición está conectada con otras actividades como estimar, contar, jugar, diseñar, localizar, en las cuales implícitamente está involucrada la actividad de explicar. Se concluye que estos resultados pueden ser útiles para promover conexiones en las clases de matemáticas contextualizadas.
Observing category exemplars in an interleaved manner is more beneficial for inductive learning than blocked (massed) presentation, a phenomenon termed the interleaving effect on inductive learning. However, people tend to erroneously believe that massed is more beneficial than interleaved learning, and learners prefer the former during self-regulated learning. We report four experiments designed to investigate whether explicit instructions, which include individual performance feedback and the interleaving effect results from previous research, can (1) correct metacognitive illusions regarding the interleaving effect, (2) promote self-employment of interleaving, and (3) facilitate category learning. In addition, the current study explored (4) whether the intervention effect is long-lasting and (5) transferable to learning of categories in other domains. Experiments 1–4 established the effectiveness of the instruction intervention to enhance metacognitive appreciation of the interleaving effect, to promote self-employment of interleaving, and to facilitate learning of new categories. The intervention effect was long-lasting (at least 24 h; Experiment 2), and transferable to learning of categories in different domains (Experiments 3 and 4). These findings support the practical use of the instruction intervention.
This meta‐analysis investigates earlier studies of spaced practice in second language learning. We retrieved 98 effect sizes from 48 experiments (N = 3,411). We compared the effects of three aspects of spacing (spaced vs. massed, longer vs. shorter spacing, and equal vs. expanding spacing) on immediate and delayed posttests to calculate mean effect sizes. We also examined the extent to which nine empirically motivated variables moderated the effects of spaced practice. Results showed that (a) spacing had a medium‐to‐large effect on second language learning; (b) shorter spacing was as effective as longer spacing in immediate posttests but was less effective in delayed posttests than longer spacing; (c) equal and expanding spacing were statistically equivalent; and (d) variability in spacing effect size across studies was explained methodologically by the learning target, number of sessions, type of practice, activity type, feedback timing, and retention interval. The methodological and pedagogical significance of the findings are discussed.
We investigated whether continuously alternating between topics during practice, or interleaved practice, improves memory and the ability to solve problems in undergraduate physics. Over eight weeks, students in two lecture sections of a university-level introductory physics course completed thrice-weekly homework assignments, each containing problems that were interleaved (i.e., alternating topics) or conventionally arranged (i.e., one topic practiced at a time). On two surprise criterial tests containing novel and more-challenging problems, students recalled more relevant information and more frequently produced correct solutions after having engaged in interleaved practice (with observed median improvements of 50% on test 1 and 125% on test 2). Despite benefiting more from interleaved practice, students tended to rate the technique as more difficult and incorrectly believed that they learned less from it. Thus, in a domain that entails considerable amounts of problem-solving, replacing conventionally-arranged with interleaved homework can (despite perceptions to the contrary) foster longer-lasting and more generalizable learning.
Sets of mathematics problems are generally arranged in 1 of 2 ways. With blocked practice, all problems are drawn from the preceding lesson. With mixed review, students encounter a mixture of problems drawn from different lessons. Mixed review has 2 features that distinguish it from blocked practice: Practice problems on the same topic are distributed, or spaced, across many practice sets; and problems on different topics are intermixed within each practice set. A review of the relevant experimental data finds that each feature typically boosts subsequent performance, often by large amounts, although for different reasons. Spacing provides review that improves long-term retention, and mixing improves students' ability to pair a problem with the appropriate concept or procedure. Hence, although mixed review is more demanding than blocked practice, because students cannot assume that every problem is based on the immediately preceding lesson, the apparent benefits of mixed review suggest that this easily adopted strategy is underused.
72 college students learned 3 motor tasks under a blocked (low interference) or random (high interference) sequence of presentation. Retention was measured after a 10-min or 10-day delay under blocked and random sequences of presentation. Subsequent transfer to a task of either the same complexity or greater complexity than the originally learned tasks was also investigated. Results showed that retention was greater following random acquisition than under changed contextual interference conditions. Likewise, transfer was greater for random acquisition groups than for blocked acquisition groups. This effect was most notable when transfer was measured for the transfer task of greatest complexity. Results are considered as support for W. F. Battig's (1978) conceptualization of contextual interference effects on retention and transfer. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
We argue herein that typical training procedures are far from optimal. The goat of training in real-world settings is, or should be, to support two aspects of posttraining performance: (a) the level of performance in the long term and (b) the capability to transfer that training to related tasks and altered contexts. The implicit or explicit assumption of those persons responsible for training is that the procedures that enhance performance and speed improvement during training will necessarily achieve these two goals. However, a variety of experiments on motor and verbal learning indicate that this assumption is often incorrect. Manipulations that maximize performance during training can be detrimental in the long term; conversely, manipulations that degrade the speed of acquisition can support the long-term goals of training. The fact that there are parallel findings in the motor and verbal domains suggests that principles of considerable generality can be deduced to upgrade training procedures.
The present review examined the relationship between conditions of massed practice and spaced practice with respect to task performance. A meta-analysis of 63 studies with 112 effect sizes yielded an overall mean weighted effect size of 0.46, indicating that individuals in spaced practice conditions performed significantly higher than those in massed practice conditions. Subsequent analyses, however, suggested that the nature of the task being practiced, the intertrial time interval, and the interaction between these two variables significantly moderated the relationship between practice conditions and performance. In addition, significantly higher effect sizes were found in studies with low methodological rigor as compared with those studies higher in rigor. Directions for future research and applications of the findings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
In most mathematics textbooks, each set of practice problems is comprised almost entirely of problems corresponding to the
immediately previous lesson. By contrast, in a small number of textbooks, the practice problems are systematically shuffled
so that each practice set includes a variety of problems drawn from many previous lessons. The standard and shuffled formats
differ in two critical ways, and each was the focus of an experiment reported here. In Experiment 1, college students learned
to solve one kind of problem, and subsequent practice problems were either massed in a single session (as in the standard
format) or spaced across multiple sessions (as in the shuffled format). When tested 1week later, performance was much greater
after spaced practice. In Experiment 2, students first learned to solve multiple types of problems, and practice problems
were either blocked by type (as in the standard format) or randomly mixed (as in the shuffled format). When tested 1week
later, performance was vastly superior after mixed practice. Thus, the results of both experiments favored the shuffled format
over the standard format.
The authors performed a meta-analysis of the distributed practice effect to illuminate the effects of temporal variables that have been neglected in previous reviews. This review found 839 assessments of distributed practice in 317 experiments located in 184 articles. Effects of spacing (consecutive massed presentations vs. spaced learning episodes) and lag (less spaced vs. more spaced learning episodes) were examined, as were expanding interstudy interval (ISI) effects. Analyses suggest that ISI and retention interval operate jointly to affect final-test retention; specifically, the ISI producing maximal retention increased as retention interval increased. Areas needing future research and theoretical implications are discussed.
Given that students typically have a sizeable amount of course material to learn but a finite amount of study time, evaluating the efficiency of study schedules is important. We explored the efficiency of various schedules of distributed retrieval plus restudy. Across two experiments, 227 undergraduates were asked to learn Swahili-English vocabulary word pairs. In conventional schedule groups, all items were presented for 3 practice trials after initial study (as in most previous research). In dropout schedule groups, the number of practice trials allocated to each item varied, in that practice with a given item was discontinued after criterion performance had been reached. A dropout schedule led to levels of performance similar to those for conventional schedules (but in fewer trials), and it was particularly effective for learning initially incorrect items. However, the efficiency of the various schedules depended critically on the interval between presentations of an item. Results suggest that dropout can be a more efficient learning schedule for students than can conventional schedules of practice.
Inductive learning -- that is, learning a new concept or category by observing exemplars -- happens constantly, for example, when a baby learns a new word or a doctor classifies x-rays. What influence does the spacing of exemplars have on induction? Compared with massing, spacing enhances long-term recall, but we expected spacing to hamper induction by making the commonalities that define a concept or category less apparent. We asked participants to study multiple paintings by different artists, with a given artist's paintings presented consecutively (massed) or interleaved with other artists' paintings (spaced). We then tested induction by asking participants to indicate which studied artist (Experiments 1a and 1b) or whether any studied artist (Experiment 2) painted each of a series of new paintings. Surprisingly, induction profited from spacing, even though massing apparently created a sense of fluent learning: Participants rated massing as more effective than spacing, even after their own test performance had demonstrated the opposite.
The learning benefits of contextual interference have been frequently demonstrated in different settings using novice learners. The purpose of the present study was to test such effects with skilled athletic performers. Scheduling differences for biweekly additional (“extra”) batting-practice sessions of a collegiate baseball team were examined. 30 players (ns = 10) were blocked on skill and then randomly assigned to one of three groups. The random and blocked groups received 2 additional batting-practice sessions each week for 6 wk. (12 sessions), while the control group received no additional practice. The extra sessions consisted of 45 pitches, 15 fastballs, 15 curve-balls, and 15 change-up pitches. The random group received these pitches in a random order, while the blocked group received all 15 of one type, then 15 of the next type, and finally 15 of the last type of pitch in a blocked fashion. All subjects received a pretest of 45 randomly presented pitches of the three varieties. After 6 wk. of extra batting practice, all subjects received two transfer tests, each of 45 trials; one was presented randomly and one blocked. The transfer tests were counterbalanced across subjects. Pretest analysis showed no significant differences among groups. On both the random and blocked transfer tests, however, the random group performed with reliably higher scores than the blocked group, who performed better than the control group. When comparing the pretest to the random transfer test, the random group improved 56.7%, the blocked group 24.8%, and the control group only 6.2%. These findings demonstrate the contextual interference effect to be robust and beneficial even to skilled learners in a complex sport setting.
High school students enrolled in a French course learned vocabulary words under conditions of either massed or distributed practice as part of their regular class activities. Distributed practice consisted of three 10-minute units on each of three successive days; massed practice consisted of all three units being completed during a 30-minute period on a single day. Though performance of the two groups was virtually identical on a test given immediately after completion of study, the students who had learned the words by distributed practice did substantially better (35%) than the massed- practice students on a second test given 4 days later. The implications of the findings for classroom instruction and the need to distinguish between learning and memory are discussed.
In a 9-year longitudinal investigation, 4 subjects learned and relearned 300 English-foreign language word pairs. Either 13 or 26 relearning sessions were administered at intervals of 14, 28, or 56 days. Retention was tested for 1.2.3. or 5 years after training terminated. The longer intersession intervals slowed down acquisition slightly, but this disadvantage during training was offset by substantially higher retention. Thirteen retraining sessions spaced at 56 days yielded retention comparable to 26 sessions spaced at 14 days. The retention benefit due to additional sessions was independent of the benefit due to spacing, and both variables facilitated retention of words regardless of difficulty level and of the consistency of retrieval during training. The benefits of spaced retrieval practice to long-term maintenance of access to academic knowledge areas are discussed.
The variability-of-practice hypothesis, a major prediction of Schmidt's (1975) motor schema theory, was tested in an attempt to investigate motor-schema formation. In addition, schema retention was observed after a 2-week retention interval. The task involved preschool children in tossing a bean bag for appropriate distance. Four treatment groups received 100 practice trials equally divided over five days. Variation was provided by varying the weights of the bean bags. The testing situations involved tossing a criterion weighted bean bag as well as a novel weighted bean bag which none of the groups had experienced previously. In addition, all groups were tested on a new but similar task. The results supported the variability-of-practice hypothesis in terms of schema formation and transfer to novel tasks in the same movement class. After a two-week retention interval, loss in performance was significantly less for the group with variability of practice than all other groups.
In the wake of A Nation at Risk, considerable attention has been drawn to time variables in the classroom and their relation to learning, especially allocated time. Moreover, there have been a number of recent legislative actions aimed at increasing the amount of time students spend in the classroom, even though research suggests that increases in allocated time result in only modest gains in achievement. In this article, reasons for this gap between research and educational policy recommendations are considered, and an agenda for discerning implications for the use of time in the classroom is proposed with reference to two well-known principles of learning research, namely encoding variability and the spacing effect. It is concluded that whereas research has failed to provide convincing evidence that encoding variability has any practical implications, the spacing effect, a time variable apparently overlooked in the educational reform movement, appears to hold considerable promise for improving the distribution of time in the classroom.
An individual lacking in self-confidence listens to a tape of the ocean surf and the cry of gulls; embedded below the threshold of hearing are affirmations, such as "I am a secure person. I believe in myself more and more every day." Will his self-esteem be enhanced? A stressed-out person feels uncomfortably revved up; she seeks out a quiet place, closes her eyes, and repeats a Sanskrit mantra. Will her heart rate be slowed? An undercover government operative makes a life-and-death decision as to whether an informant's statement is the truth or a deliberate lie; he pays close attention to the other's body cues and tone of voice. Will such signs help him to decide correctly? These questions, and more, are the subject of In theMind's Eye: Enhancing Human Performance (and the respective answers are probably not, not better than simply sitting quietly, and probably so).Following up on
Recent reviews about the effects of distribution of practice in motor learning have produced quite divergent conclusions. While there is agreement that massed practice depresses performance, the effect on learning has no firm consensus. One position is that massed practice depresses learning, although there are many that argue for no learning effect. In the present paper we review this literature. When distribution is considered in terms of the length of the inter-trial interval, there is strong evidence that masses practice depresses performance and learning (when learning is assessed by absolute retention measures). This conclusion was confirmed by the results of a meta-analysis. This finding is discussed relative to other literature on distribution of practice as well as some recent issues in motor learning.
Prior research indicates that the influence of abilities on performance may change as a function of practice. The present research examined how learning styles influence the relationship between abilities and task performance. The styles examined were massed vs distributed practice. 209 Ss were asked to complete measures of spatial visualization and perceptual speed. They then practiced a complex skill acquisition task for 4 hrs under conditions that allowed them to pace their rate of practice. Analysis of several dependent measures revealed that perceptual speed contributed to task performance for 33 Ss who massed their practice, whereas spatial visualization contributed to performance for 61 Ss who distributed their practice. The implications of these findings for understanding the role of abilities in skill acquisition are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
To test the hypothesis that expanded practice is superior to massed practice in a classroom situation, a test series with expanded intervals to teach multiplication facts and spelling lists to 44 Grade 3 students, formed into massed and expanded groups based on their spelling and mathematical abilities, was conducted. Results show that, for multiplication facts, retention in the expanded series condition was almost twice that in the massed series condition; for spelling lists, a significant difference in the same direction was also obtained. These differences were obtained regardless of the level of ability of the Ss. It is suggested that an expanded test series not only engenders effective retention but also maintains a feeling of success throughout and that use of this type of series would therefore have obvious benefit if incorporated into remedial programs or used in learning centers. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
One method of approach to a more fundamental classification of the factors conditioning the efficiency of massed versus distributed practice is to relate such factors to the total pattern of the learning process. Present-day theories of learning are returning to a dualistic view in which intelligent learning, or insight, is contrasted with mechanical habit fixation. This two-type theory leads to the following a priori deductions: (1) Intelligent learning should be favored by massed practice immediately after the appearance of a configuration, while the mechanical fixation process is favored by distributed practice. (2) The relative efficacy of the massed practice is inversely proportional to the stability of the novel configuration. (3) Meaningful material should be learned by massed, and nonsense material by distributed practice. (4) Massed learning should be most effective in the early stages of learning; also for immediate recall as against delayed recall. (5) The relative effectiveness of massed versus distributed practice depends on the complexity of the problem, and (6) on the intelligence and past experience of the subjects. The author performed two experiments to test these hypotheses, using the "T" and "cross" puzzles, and found that massed practice was much more economical on the early trials, but its superiority declines with each succeeding trial up to 9 trials. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
In two experiments, 216 college students learned to solve one kind of mathematics problem before completing one of various practise schedules. In Experiment 1, students either massed 10 problems in a single session or distributed these 10 problems across two sessions separated by 1 week. The benefit of distributed practise was nil among students who were tested 1 week later but extremely large among students tested 4 weeks later. In Experiment 2, students completed three or nine practise problems in one session. The additional six problems constituted a strategy known as overlearning, but this extra effort had no effect on test scores 1 or 4 weeks later. Thus, long-term retention was boosted by distributed practise and unaffected by overlearning. Unfortunately, most mathematics textbooks rely on a format that emphasises overlearning and minimises distributed practise. An easily adopted alternative format is advocated. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The benefit to memory of spacing presentations of material is well established but lacks an adequate explanation and is rarely applied in education. This paper presents three experiments that examined the spacing effect and its application to education. Experiment 1 demonstrated that spacing repeated presentations of items is equally beneficial to memory for a wide range of ages, contrary to some theories. Experiment 2 introduced ‘clustered’ presentations as a more relevant control than massed, reflecting the fact that massed presentation of material is uncommon in education. The scheduling of clustered presentations was intermediate between massed and distributed, yet recall was no different than for massed. Experiment 3, a classroom-based study, demonstrated the benefit of distributed over clustered teaching of reading through modification of the scheduling of everyday lessons. Thus, the effectiveness of teaching may be improved by increasing the degree to which lessons are distributed. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Thesis--West Virginia University. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 35-39).
To achieve enduring retention, people must usually study information on multiple occasions. How does the timing of study events affect retention? Prior research has examined this issue only in a spotty fashion, usually with very short time intervals. In a study aimed at characterizing spacing effects over significant durations, more than 1,350 individuals were taught a set of facts and--after a gap of up to 3.5 months--given a review. A final test was administered at a further delay of up to 1 year. At any given test delay, an increase in the interstudy gap at first increased, and then gradually reduced, final test performance. The optimal gap increased as test delay increased. However, when measured as a proportion of test delay, the optimal gap declined from about 20 to 40% of a 1-week test delay to about 5 to 10% of a 1-year test delay. The interaction of gap and test delay implies that many educational practices are highly inefficient.
The learning benefits of contextual interference have been frequently demonstrated in different settings using novice learners. The purpose of the present study was to test such effects with skilled athletic performers. Scheduling differences for biweekly additional ("extra") batting-practice sessions of a collegiate baseball team were examined. 30 players (ns = 10) were blocked on skill and then randomly assigned to one of three groups. The random and blocked groups received 2 additional batting-practice sessions each week for 6 wk. (12 sessions), while the control group received no additional practice. The extra sessions consisted of 45 pitches, 15 fastballs, 15 curveballs, and 15 change-up pitches. The random group received these pitches in a random order, while the blocked group received all 15 of one type, then 15 of the next type, and finally 15 of the last type of pitch in a blocked fashion. All subjects received a pretest of 45 randomly presented pitches of the three varieties. After 6 wk. of extra batting practice, all subjects received two transfer tests, each of 45 trials; one was presented randomly and one blocked. The transfer tests were counterbalanced across subjects. Pretest analysis showed no significant differences among groups. On both the random and blocked transfer tests, however, the random group performed with reliably higher scores than the blocked group, who performed better than the control group. When comparing the pretest to the random transfer test, the random group improved 56.7%, the blocked group 24.8%, and the control group only 6.2%.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
The effects of contextual interference on learning pistol-shooting skills in a natural training environment were examined. The shooting skills consisted of three "stages" with different requirements for the skill variations commonly used in the field. 12 participants were randomly assigned into one of two practice conditions, blocked vs serial. Following a 20-min. safety and skill instructional session, Blocked group practiced 10 trials in a row at each stage, while Serial group performed 5 trials in a row for each of the three stages and then repeated the cycle. Both groups completed a total of 30 practice trials over the three stages. A 10-min. rest interval was provided prior to a retention test which included 9 trials (3 trials at each stage in a blocked format). Results based on the data of Stage III, the most complex skill among the three stages, showed a pattern consistent with previous findings that practicing in the serial schedule depressed performance during initial training but maintained the performance better at retention, relative to the blocked practice.
In the mind’s eye: Enhancing human performance (pp. 23– 56) Massed and distributed practice in puzzle solving
- R A Druckman
- Bjork
Druckman, & R. A. Bjork (Eds.), In the mind’s eye: Enhancing human performance (pp. 23– 56). Washington, DC: National Academy Press. Cook, T. W. (1934). Massed and distributed practice in puzzle solving. Psychological Review, 41, 330–355
Mixed practice enhances retention and JOL accuracy for mathematical skills Paper presented at the 49th Annual Meeting of the
- Le Blanc
- K Simon
Le Blanc, K., & Simon, D. (2008). Mixed practice enhances retention and JOL accuracy for
mathematical skills. Paper presented at the 49th Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society,
Chicago, IL. November, 2008
Massed and distributed practice in puzzle solving
- Cook