AnnaMarie Houlis
Interleaving is a studying technique that students use to mix (or interleave) different topics. When you interleave, you crack down on a little bit of everything at once, such as several subjects for an exam.
Interleaving can be described as a contrasting approach to blocked practice, which refers to studying one topic very thoroughly before moving onto the next.
While interleaving may seem overwhelming for some people, there are actually a whole bunch of benefits to it.
Let’s learn more about interleaving and how you can use it to, well, learn!
Definition
Interleaving refers to studying a mix of subjects at one time. It’s a learning technique that forces your brain to work harder to recall information.
While interleaving isn’t’ the easiest way of studying, there are serious cognitive benefits to studying this way.
Interleaving vs Blocked Practice
While interweaving involves mixing different topics, blocking involves focusing on just one.
When you use blocked practice in studying, you hone in one one topic at a time until you feel like you’ve mastered it enough and can move onto the next. Blocked practice may feel easier because, as you study, all of the information is at the forefront of your mind; you don’t need to go digging for anything you mentally put aside.
However, while blocked practice may seem like the better studying technique, there’s tons of research that supports interleaving.
Examples of Interleaving
To help you better understand, here are some examples of interleaving:
Studying for an Exam
A student with an upcoming test across multiple subjects could use interleaving to help them prepare. In this case, they might devote some of their time to studying math, some time to studying science and some time to studying literature.
After that time is up for each of them, they’ll cycle back through all of the subjects to spend more time on them. They may even use different study strategies for the next time around.
Preparing for a Driving Test
Learning how to drive requires theory and practice. You need to take a written test and do a test drive to pass and get your license.
Of course, you could spend all of your time on theory and then hop into the car and test it all out. But it might be better to spend some time reading about traffic rules and regulations and getting comfortable actually driving the car as you do it. Interleaving them can help you learn theory and practice driving at the same time.
Gearing up for a Sports Certification
Maybe you’re studying to get your divemaster certification or to become a surf or snowboard instructor. Instructors need to know both theory and technique, too. As educators, they’re tasked with informing their students (and themselves) about the sport and the risks involved. They’re also tasked with doing it right and teaching technique.
It makes sense, then, to mix up studying theory and practicing the sport yourself. You can read about skiing all day, but if you wait to hit the slopes, you’ll (probably) never pass your test.
Benefits of Interleaving
There are infinite benefits to interleaving while studying.
- When you study one thing, move onto another thing and then come back to that first thing, you force your brain to retrieve it. Fetching it again and again improves your recall over time. And the easier you can recall something, the more likely you are to remember it come test time.
- Moving between topics or even sub-topics can help prevent you from getting bored. If you burn yourself out trying to dive too deep into one topic at a time, you’ll have a hard time hanging onto it all. Interweaving can give you a much-needed breather from it.
- Cognitive psychologists believe that interleaving can actually improve your brain’s ability to differentiate between concepts and strengthen your memory.
How Interleaving Works
The way interleaving works is simple. You take the topic (or topics) you need to study, and you spread out your study sessions based on different sub-topics or the different topics entirely.
For example, say you are studying for a British Literature final. Maybe you’ve read Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, 1984 by George Orwell and Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen over the course of the semester, and all of these books are bound to be on the exam.
Instead of studying all of this Brit-lit at once, you can break up your study sessions by book and go back to each over time. Maybe you study Great Expectations for an afternoon but you move onto 1984 that evening. You can go back to Great Expectations the next day after you slept on it—or even in a few days after you also reviewed Pride and Prejudice and whatever else you think could be on the test.
The point is not to try to master Great Expectations before moving onto the other books. Mix ’em up instead. Going back to Charles Dickens’ work later will require you to recall it, when 1984 is fresh on your mind—and, while that might feel hard at first, it’s good practice for your brain.
Just don’t use interleaving as an excuse to switch to another subject when one subject becomes too difficult. Persist until you have a sense of accomplishment and you feel like you’re in a good place to put it on pause and move on to the next.
Interleaving vs Spacing
Interleaving shouldn’t be confused with spacing, which is another type of studying strategy. Spacing refers to separating your study sessions so that you force your brain to regularly retrieve information to improve your recall.
Sure, interleaving and spacing both involve spacing out when you study a topic. And they both force you to recall information that’s no longer at the forefront of your brain.
But spacing could refer to just one topic. Interleaving takes spacing a step further by introducing other topics during those empty spaces.
Step-by-Step Instructions for Interleaving
Interleaving is easy to implement. Here are five steps to do it successfully:
- Identify the topics you need to study or break down the single topic at hand into sub-topics.
- Plan study sessions that give you adequate time to study each topic of sub-topic. Make sure you spend enough time on each and don’t prematurely give up on any.
- Once you’ve spent ample time on one topic or sub-topic, move onto the next one wholeheartedly. Don’t keep previous books or tabs open. Make a real effort to step away from it and immerse yourself into the next topic.
- After a designated amount of time, revisit the previous topics or sub-topics. Give yourself enough time to recall the information and review it sufficiently again.
- Repeat your review of each topic or sub-topic, mixing them up. You can even try different study techniques each time you review them.
Other Techniques to Use Along with Interleaving
Sure, you can use interleaving as a studying strategy on its own. But, like all studying strategies, it’s always good to combine techniques.
Here are some other techniques to consider along with interleaving:
- Microlearning – Study small bits of information at a time instead of trying to cram everything all at once.
- Distributed practice – Space out your study sessions at optimally timed intervals to improve your memory recall.
With tools like Dorothy, you can practice both microlearning and distributed practice. Dorothy will quickly quiz you on a question you share with the app at optimally timed intervals The app predicts, down to the day, when your brain is likely to forget the answers, and it pings you so you don’t!