Activities provide practice, but not all types of practice yield the same transfer benefits. The tabs on this page will focus on types of practice and their brain boosting benefits. The next few pages will address how to create brain boosting practice activities with features you already use in Canvas.

Don't skip the Dig Deeper Tab! The resources linked are great references for when you are working on your creating activities for your courses. Bookmark them for later!

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Blocked or Retrieval Practice?
Spaced Practice
Interleaved Practice
Dig Deeper (Optional)

Blocked Practice = Develops Inert Knowledge

Blocked practice is when a learner performs a single skill over and over, with repetition being the key. Variance in the type of skill being practiced is minimized or nonexistent. The learner then moves on to practice another discrete skill in the same way. This sounds sensible right? Practice one skill and master it before you move on to the next. Unfortunately, the repetition of the same skill can lull the learner into a false sense of understanding, known as the “illusion of knowing.”

Students tend to apply blocked practice when preparing for a test (often called ‘cramming’). Cramming involves focused review of the same information again and again with little space or time between study sessions .Cramming situates knowledge in the short-term memory, but not long-term, so it’s easily forgotten.

What it Looks Like:

A1, A2, A3

Examples:

Solving the same type of equation, but just with different numbers
Writing compositions applying a single genre

Retrieval Practice = Supports Transfer

While Blocked Practice puts information in Retrieval practice is focused on getting information out. During a blocked practice, putting knowledge in and recalling that knowledge takes place int he same session. But with retrieval, there is time between when knowledge went 'in' and when a task demands the brain 'recall' or retrieve it.

Retrieval is like a Brain Workout

If the body does the same workout every day, the muscles get used to a specific routine and demand. But what happens when you change your workout? Have you ever done something physical for the first time in a long time? Skiing? Jogging? Gardening? How do you feel the next day? You probably have a few sore muscles, right? Sore muscles indicate ares of our body we haven't worked in a while.

Retrieval practice has the same effect on the brain. Asking the brain to retrieve or dig out knowledge from an earlier learning experience takes cognitive work - it builds brain muscle. When developing practice activities build in questions and tasks that require students to retrieve previously learned information.

Practice that Requires Retrieval

Spaced Practice
Interleaved Practice

Spaced Practice

This 6 minute video explains the cognitive science behind spacing. While addressing high-school students, the information is applicable to higher education.

Spaced practice is the opposite of blocked. Instead of studying the same information all at once, the learner engages in shorter sessions over several days. Spacing makes the brain work harder because it has to work to retrieve information learned in previous sessions. The struggle to ‘retrieve’ over time is the type of desirable difficulty that makes the learning durable, improving long-term memory. Spacing doesn’t feel ‘easier’ so it doesn’t hurt to help students understand the cognitive benefits of the struggle (Carpenter & Agarwal, 2020)

What it Looks Like:

A1 … A2 ... A3 ... A1 ... A2 ... A3

Example:

Studying Spanish Vocabulary terms in thirty minute sessions over five days

Interleaved Practice

Watch the video below

Watch this 1.38 minute video for a brief overview of Interleaved Practice and how it makes the brain work harder which boosts learning.

Interleaved practice produces the greatest cognitive boost. Simply put, interleaved mixes concepts so instead of studying like items in a group, students rotate through different concepts. The constant switching between concepts forces the brain to work harder to retrieve previous information since repetition of like concepts is interrupted. The ultimate brain boost comes from combining spacing and interleaving. Meaning inserting previously learned content into the practice routine.

What it Looks Like:

A1,B1,C1 … A2, B2, C2,...A3, B3, C3

Example:

Studying 5 vocabulary from the current chapter, conjugating 5 verbs, completing a listening exercise; Studying 5 more vocabulary, conjugating 5 more verbs, completing different listening exercise; Reviewing 5 vocabulary from the previous chapter, conjugating irregular verbs; re-listening to an exercise from two chapters before.

Read the resource

The webpage linked below is from MIT and provides a succinct explanation and examples of Spaced and Interleaved Practice.

MIT Open Learning: Spaced and Interleaved Practice

Dig Deeper (Optional)

The tabs on this page are a snapshot of practice and cognition. I encourage you to bookmark the items on this page for later reference. They are short reads packed with practical information and ideas for planning powerful practice!

Additional Reading and Viewing Resources

Creative Commons eGuides

These texts, written and freely shared by Retrieval Practice present research based explanations and suggestions for implementing meaningful practice. Each guide is approximately 12 pages and takes less than 10 minutes to read - well worth the time! Texts are available in six languages!
How to use Retrieval Practice to Improve Learning
Interleaved Mathematics Practice
How to use Spaced Retrieval Practice to Boost Learning
Retrieval Practice and Transfer of Learning

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