In a between-subjects experiment, students using blocked studying still reported lower mental effort and higher concurrent judgments of learning than students using interleaved studying¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r2 · q3 · i3 large
Currency · newest study 2023 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i3 Blocked-study students perceived the study phase as less effortful (d = -1.05) and made higher concurrent judgments of learning (d = 1.03) than interleaved-study students. → Janssen 2023

Evidence¶

Janssen 2023¶

Janssen, E. M., van Gog, T., van de Groep, L., de Lange, A. J., Knopper, R. L., Onan, E., Wiradhany, W., & de Bruin, A. B. H. (2023). The Role of Mental Effort in Students' Perceptions of the Effectiveness of Interleaved and Blocked Study Strategies and Their Willingness to Use Them. Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-023-09797-3

q3 · i3 · causal · r2

Experiment 2 (N = 299, study strategy between-subjects, five painters) replicated the effort difference, t(297) = -9.10, p < 0.001, Cohen's d = -1.05, and the concurrent-judgment difference (Welch's t(272.8) = 8.87, d = 1.03).

"students who used blocked studying perceived the study phase as being less effortful (M = 3.74, SD = 1.22) than students who used interleaved studying (M = 5.14, SD = 1.43), t(297) = -9.10, p < 0.001, Cohen's d = -1.05."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• In Experiment 1, mental effort was negatively related to perceived effectiveness and (via perceived effectiveness) willingness to use interleaved studying, with a more influential role for interleaved than blocked studying — related
• In a within-subjects category-learning experiment, students reported higher mental effort and lower concurrent judgments of learning during interleaved than during blocked studying — related
• In Experiment 1, students' prospective judgments of learning were higher for blocked studying even though actual test performance was higher for interleaved studying — related
• Qualitative findings: students initially held inaccurate beliefs about strategy efficacy, and high effort from interleaved practice was misinterpreted as a sign of poor learning — related
• Perceived learning is higher for blocked than interleaved practice at onset but increases over time for interleaved practice only — related
• Perceived effort is higher and perceived learning lower for interleaving than blocking, and experience-mediated increases in perceived learning raise interleaving choices — related