"
Skip to Content
Version 1.1 – Updated August 2021

Interleaved practice

Overview

  • Influence: Interleaved practice
  • Domain: Student Learning Strategies
  • Sub-Domain: Learning strategies
  • Potential to Accelerate Student Achievement: Potential to accelerate
  • Influence Definition: Interleaving involves implementing a schedule of practice that mixes different kinds of problems, or a schedule of study that mixes different kinds of material, within a single study session. It can also involve mixing, or interleaving, multiple subjects of topics, as opposed to blocked practice, which typically involves studying one topic very thoroughly before moving to another topic

Evidence

  • Number of meta-analyses: 2
  • Number of studies: 163
  • Number of students: 9,438
  • Number of effects: 342
  • Effect size: 0.44

Meta-Analyses

Meta-Analyses
Journal Title Author First Author's Country Article Name Year Published Variable Number of Studies Number of Students Number of Effects Effect Size
Nature: Science of Learning Donoghue & Hattie Australia Learning strategies: A synthesis and conceptual model 2018 Interleaved practice 104 972 104 0.47
Psychological Bulletin Brunmair & Richter Germany Similarity matters: A meta-analysis of interleaved learning and its moderators 2019 Interleaved practice 59 8,466 238 0.42
TOTAL/AVERAGE 163 9,438 342 0.44

Confidence

The Confidence is the average of these four measures, each divided into five approximately equal groups and assigned a value from 1 to 5 based on the following criteria:

  • Number of Meta-analyses
    • 1 = 1
    • 2 = 2–3
    • 3 = 4–6
    • 4 = 7–9
    • 5 = 10+
  • Number of Studies
    • 1 = 1–10
    • 2 = 11–50
    • 3 = 51–200
    • 4 = 201–400
    • 5 = 400+
  • Number of Students
    • 1 = 1–2,500
    • 2 = 2,501–10,000
    • 3 = 10,000–20,000
    • 4 = 20,000–100,000
    • 5 = 100,001+
  • Number of Effects
    • 1 = 1–100
    • 2 = 101–300
    • 3 = 301–600
    • 4 = 601–1,200
    • 5 = 1,200+
Confidences
Number of Meta-Analyses Number of Studies Number of Students Number of Effects Overall Confidence
Confidence Factor 2 3 2 3 3
Back to top