5 practical ways to use ‘interleaving’ within your teaching

Interleaving is a cognitive science principle that can be used to help students learn more effectively. It involves periodically mixing up different topics or types of problems within a single study session. This can help students to recognise patterns and make connections between different topics, as well as to develop better retention and recall of the material.

1. Spaced Practice: You can use spaced practice by allowing students to practice each area of a topic in chunks over a period of time, instead of all of it at once. Spacing out practice was more effective than massed practice in terms of retaining information. This is consistent with the interleaving principle as it allows students to mix and switch between topics, rather than focusing on just one area of study at a time.

2. Mixing Up Assessments: You can provide assessments in a mixed-up order and format, rather than the same format for each assessment. For example, a teacher may choose to provide a combination of multiple-choice questions, short answers, diagrams, equations, and so on, when assessing their students. This technique enhances learning better than the technique of blocked practice.

3. Varied Exercises: You can provide varied exercises to your students, rather than the same type of exercise for each learning topic. For example, you may choose to use a mixture of exercises such as problem solving, discussion, practice questions, and so on, to help your students understand the material better. Interleaving practice with different types of exercises led to better learning outcomes than blocked practice.

4. Varying the Presentation Format: You can vary the presentation format of the material, such as switching between different mediums like written material, audio, video, and so on. Switching between different mediums when presenting material leads to better learning outcomes than using the same medium for each learning topic.

5. Group Work: You can use group work to help your students understand the material by allowing them to exchange ideas and discuss the topics further. Group work can be an effective way to help students understand the material better. This is consistent with the interleaving principle as it allows students to switch between topics and encourages deeper discussion, rather than focusing on just one topic at a time.


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