or why what feels like good learning may not be
๐๐พโโ๏ธ๐๐ผโโ๏ธ Have you ever felt like you're not making progress in learning something new even though you're putting in a lot of effort? Well, it turns out that ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฒ ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ป ๐ถ๐๐ป'๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ฎ๐๐ as ๐ถ๐ป๐๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ as we think it is. Itโs not what we naturally think it is.
Studies have shown that ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด, or mixing up the practice of different subjects or skills, is actually more effective than ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ, which is repeating the same thing over and over again.
Picture taken from: https://www.structural-learning.com/post/interleaving-a-teachers-guide
Let me give you an example: two groups of college students were taught how to find the volumes of four different geometric solids. One group practiced by doing four problems of each type in a row,
๐น๐น๐นโช๏ธโช๏ธโช๏ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐บ๐บ๐บ while the other group mixed up the problems: โช๏ธ๐นโช๏ธ๐ธ๐บ๐ธ๐บโช๏ธ๐น๐ธ๐น๐บ.
๐ข During practice, the massed group (the first one) did better, but a week later, during the final test, the interleaved group did significantly better - their performance improved by 215%! If youโre curious about the numbers: the massed practice group gave 89% of correct answers on a practice test and only 20% on the final test, while the group that used the interleaving technique gave 60% of the right answers on the practice test and 63% on the final test. How about that!
๐ Here's the thing: interleaved practice feels slower and more โsluggishโ, โ as the authors of #MakeItStick describe it, โ than massed practice, and teachers and students may not see the benefits in the short term.
๐ถโ๐ซ๏ธ So with massed practice you may feel like youโre improving faster, but thereโs something about letting that โforgettingโ kick in and applying extra effort to remember that gives you a MUCH better longer-term result. It can be confusing and frustrating to switch between different topics when you're still trying to get a handle on one of them, but clearly sometimes the methods that feel slow and confusing can actually be more effective in the long run.
๐ And remember โ consistency over perfection.
Tina is a professional English Teacher with a Cambridge education and 10+ years of teaching English to adults in-person and online.
She wants you and English learners like you to develop a solid understanding of what you need to do to start speaking better English faster (and not fall for English-in-a-month scams).