Interleaved vs Blocked Learning

Interleaved Learning vs. Blocked Learning

The one project that stuck out to me in the second half of the semester is Dr.Barbara Knowlton study on interleaved learning. Dr.Knowlton wanted to find out what the most efficient way of learning is; is it more beneficial to to space out studying or do it repetitive all at once. She found that it is better to space out your studying and to practicing interleaved studying. Dr. Knowlton project was 2x2 design that measured the effect of interleaved practice and blocked practice. The groups were split into two. One of the groups were given a repetitive sequence and kept practicing that same sequence over and over again. Another group were given a mixture of sequences and left it. On day five they were tested again, the interleaved group did were able to recall the sequences much faster than the repetitive practice. The explanation Dr. Knowlton came up for this is that the repetitive practice did not see a variety of sequences hence, they had to start from square one. In clarification, is better to look at a variety of flash cards than just stare at one flash card for a period of time because when you get a new one your are activating your brain to recall information.

On the other hand, Dr. Knowlton studied brain activity on interleaved practice.. It appeared there was a activation in frontal gyrus of the brain and there was cerebellar activity. Her data revealed Increased cerebellar activity during practice (left, y=54) and during transfer (right, y=-60) was correlated with higher transfer scores. There was a correlation between bold signal during practice in cerebellum and transfer scores, hence more cerebellar action the higher the transfer scores.

            The New York Times reported an experiment similar to Dr. Knowlton, this experiment was conducted on a pre-algebra class. The researcher was named Dr. Rohrer. She ran a study on a pre- algebra class giving the students four different types of problems. Just like Dr. Knowlton she divided the groups into blocked learning and interleaved learning. It was reported at first the interleaved took longer to complete the bell work than it did for the blocked assignment group, but even though it was hard at first the interleaved group did a lot better. Students were saying, “I need a long time to study for the tests, but the interleaved review work, made me have to study less.” Anyways over the nine-week period students were getting worksheet with twelve problems each. One group as previously mentioned got the same types of problems and the other group got mixed problem sets. Two weeks later they gave the students a cumulative test to see who would do better. The results said that the interleaved group scored 72% and the as usual problems reported at 38%.

This is truly an astonishing find and the article said it is unsure of the explanation. As mentioned earlier Dr.Knowlton mentioned a couple of explanation for this find. She found increased cerebellar activity and that if it is a repetitive sequence as soon as an individual gets something new has nothing to recall and must start from square one. The explanation of Dr. Rohrer was identical to Dr. Knowlton explanation as the variety allows a student to enhance his or her critical thinking skills. This allows an individual to think what kind of problem is this? How do I approach it? How is it different from the other one? As suppose to just applying a single procedure every time and if the problem is different the person goes blank and again will have to start from square one. Unlike Dr. Knowlton, Dr.Rohrer did not dive into the neuroscience explanation, just mentioned there might be brain connections, which appeared to be the case when Dr. Knowlton was conducting the experiments using electrodes and MRI.

Reference

Carey, Benedict. "Cognitive Science Meets Pre-Algebra." The New York Times. The New York Times, 02 Sept. 2013. Web. 05 Dec. 2015.