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<\/a><\/p>\nResult: THEY (should) LEARN.<\/p>\n
Alas, both classroom experience and psychology\/neuroscience research suggest that the process is MUCH more complicated.<\/p>\n
For instance:<\/p>\n
When we “introduce new material,” should we use direct instruction or more of an inquiry\/problem-based pedagogy? *<\/p>\n
When we “have our students practice,” what’s the very BEST kind of practice?<\/p>\n
Around here, we typically offer two answers to that 2nd question:\u00a0retrieval practice<\/em> and interleaving<\/em>.<\/p>\n Retrieval practice has gotten lots of love on this blog — for instance, here.<\/a> I have written less about interleaving, mostly because we have less research on the topic.<\/p>\n But I’ve found some ripping good — and very practical — research to share here at the end of 2021.<\/p>\n Let’s start with definitions.<\/p>\n Let’s say I teach a particular topic today: “adjectives.” And tomorrow I teach “adverbs.” Next day, “prepositions.” Next: “coordinating conjunctions.”<\/p>\n How should I structure students’ homework?<\/p>\n They could do 20<\/strong> adjective practice problems tonight<\/strong>. Then 20 adverb problems the next night. Then 20 prepositions. And so forth.<\/p>\n Let’s call that homework schedule\u00a0blocking<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Or, they could do 5<\/strong> adjective problems a night for the next 4 nights<\/strong>. And 5 adverb problems a night starting tomorrow night. And so forth.<\/p>\n If I go with this system, students will practice multiple different topics (adjectives, adverbs, prepositions…) at the same time. So, let’s call that homework schedule\u00a0interleaving<\/strong>.<\/p>\n For the most part, when we compare these two approaches, we find that interleaving results in more learning than blocking<\/em>. (Lots of info here<\/a>. Also in this book<\/a>.)<\/p>\n That’s an interesting conclusion, but\u00a0why<\/strong> is it true?<\/p>\n In the first<\/strong> place, probably, interleaving is a desirable difficulty<\/em>. Students must THINK HARDER when they interleave practice, so they learn more.<\/p>\n In the\u00a0second<\/strong> place, well, we don’t exactly know. Our confusion, in fact, stems in part from an arresting truth: interleaving\u00a0usually<\/em> helps students learn, but not always<\/em>.<\/p>\n Of course, NOTHING ALWAYS WORKS, so we’re not fully surprised. But if the exceptions helped explain the rule, that could be mightily helpful…<\/p>\n Two scholars — Paulo F. Carvalho and Robert Goldstone — have been studying a potential explanation.<\/p>\n Perhaps blocking and interleaving enhance different kinds of memories<\/em>. And so, research produces contradictory results because researchers use different kinds of memory tests.<\/p>\n Specifically, they propose that:<\/p>\n During blocked<\/strong> study, attention and encoding are progressively directed toward the similarities<\/strong> among successive items belonging to the same<\/strong> category,<\/p>\n whereas during interleaved<\/strong> study attention and encoding are progressively directed toward the differences<\/strong> between successive items belonging to different<\/strong> categories.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n In other words: blocking focuses students on the properties of a particular category<\/em> (“adjectives”). Interleaving focuses students on the distinctions among different categories<\/em> (“adjectives, adverbs, prepositions”).<\/p>\n And so: if I want students to DEFINE ONE topic or idea or category (“adjectives”), blocking will help them do that well.<\/p>\n If I want students to COMPARE\/CONTRAST MANY topics or ideas or categories, interleaving will help them do that well.<\/p>\n“What?,” “Why?,” and Other Important Questions<\/h2>\n
An Intriguing Possibility…<\/h2>\n