The sequencing of instruction and the concept of assimilation-to-schema

The concept of assimilation-to-schema proposes that learning depends on three conditions: (1) the reception of the to-be-learned material, (2) the availability of a cognitive structure to which the new material may be assimilated, (3) the activation of the structure during learning. The concept provides weak (i.e., concerning amount of learning) and strong (i.e. concerning the structure of learning outcomes) predictions with respect to the effects of sequencing of instruction, ordering of instruction and organization of instruction. The present review demonstrates that studies of the role of instructional sequencing provide an important test of the assimilation-to-schema theory, and that many apparent inconsistencies in the literature may be better understood by an analysis of the internal assimilation process.This paper was partially supported by a Faculty Research Grant from the Academic Senate of the University of California, Santa Barbara.