Deeper Learning Means Mixing It Up

Most textbooks are wrong. The information within them is correct; however, the way the information is organized is flawed.

Textbooks present information in a “blocked” format. This style means that information is separated by topic. For example, the first chapter of a chemistry text will discuss atoms. The next section will move on to solution compositions, then chemical reactions. This tiered structure suggests that each topic should be mastered before moving to the next section, a practice called blocked study.

The problem with this approach is that it ignores something called “interleaving study,” which is important because “research in skill acquisition has demonstrated a clear advantage for interleaved study,” according to work published in Frontiers in Psychology.

Interleaved study is the practice of alternating between topics instead of moving through them linearly. An interleaved approach means that the chemistry student would learn about solution compositions while learning about atoms instead of one before the other.

Here, we look at why interleaving accelerates learning, how to use it, and the implications for sales professionals seeking to bolster their skill set.   

Why Interleaving Works

The researchers wanted to understand why interleaving works. They discovered that the effectiveness behind the strategy has a lot to do with understanding how the individual topics contrast with one another.

To properly understand concepts, the learner must be able to discriminate between topics and encode them individually. Doing so requires a clear knowledge of how the concepts differ from each other. Exposure to different concepts together helps bring out these differences. However, when concepts are presented separately and in an isolated fashion, it becomes difficult to identify contrasts between the subjects. The compartmentalization of blocked study puts a greater burden on the learner to identify contrasts.

The researchers also discovered a second reason why interleaving works. Interleaved study builds a cadence in which learners have more time between repetitions of the same category. That is, they return to the first topic after starting the second topic. Then, they return to the first topic again after starting the third. This pattern keeps the individual returning to the first topic throughout the learning process. This spaced repetition contrasts with the blocked format in which the learner completes the first topic, then never returns.

The benefits of interleaving have been proven several times. In a separate study published in the Educational Psychology Review, researchers found that “interleaving produced better scores on final tests of learning.” Like the research published in Frontiers in Psychology, the author explains that “when students encounter a set of concepts (or terms or principles) that are similar in some way, they often confuse one with another” and that “these kinds of errors occur more frequently when all exposures to one of the concepts are grouped together.”

How to Use Interleaving

Some may interpret the benefits of interleaving as an endorsement of multitasking. However, there is a difference between these two. Multitasking often encourages jumping from one item to another. Interleaving is different than multitasking because it is a structured approach that fosters learning through understanding the specific ways that similar but different material contrasts. Multitasking rarely involves a set of material that is interconnected. Instead, multitasking is often a random assortment of disconnected things.

Moreover, research shows that multitasking creates inefficiencies because it carries what psychologists call “switch costs.” These costs are the loss productivity that comes from time needed to shift focus. As task complexity increases, so do these costs. To avoid falling into a multitasking approach, learners should commit to interleaving in three ways:

1. Commit to the Long Term

Interleaving is counterintuitive because it requires more time than the more traditional and more popular blocked approach. With blocked study, learners appear to grasp concepts faster. In fact, in one study, a group of participants engaging in blocked study averaged 89 percent correct in an assessment test compared to 60 percent correct among the interleaved group. However, one week later, upon taking another test, the interleaved group “boosted final test performance by a remarkable 215 percent” and vastly outperformed the blocked group. The bottom line: interleaving creates long-term gains.   

2. Draw Your Own Map

The benefits of interleaved study are clear. However, most instructional material has not caught up and is in a blocked configuration. Therefore, learners must take it upon themselves to map out an interleaved approach. Doing so means beginning with the first topic, then before long, moving to the next topic, even if there is unreviewed material remaining in the first topic. Keep moving to the next section even if the proceeding material has not been mastered. There will be opportunities to complete each section in full upon the second and third pass. Just because information is presented in a blocked style doesn’t mean it must be absorbed that way.

3. Focus on What’s Different

The power of interleaved study is that it underscores the difference between concepts that could otherwise be easily confused. Therefore, learners need to take the time to note these small but meaningful differences when engaging the instructional material. As the researchers in the book Make It Stick explain, understanding the commonalities among topics is far less advantageous than understanding the differences. Become a discriminating learner.

The Takeaways

Professional training and skill development demands the high opportunity cost of time away from revenue-producing activities. Therefore, professionals need to make the most of these engagements. However, too often the material follows a module format, which provides only short-term benefits.

• Approach the material with an interleaved structure where topics are mixed
• Clearly define the contrasts between similar concepts to strengthen learning long after training is complete