The shuffling of mathematics problems improves learning |
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Authors: | Doug Rohrer and Kelli Taylor |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Psychology, PCD 4118G, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620, USA |
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Abstract: | In most mathematics textbooks, each set of practice problems is comprised almost entirely of problems corresponding to the
immediately previous lesson. By contrast, in a small number of textbooks, the practice problems are systematically shuffled
so that each practice set includes a variety of problems drawn from many previous lessons. The standard and shuffled formats
differ in two critical ways, and each was the focus of an experiment reported here. In Experiment 1, college students learned
to solve one kind of problem, and subsequent practice problems were either massed in a single session (as in the standard
format) or spaced across multiple sessions (as in the shuffled format). When tested 1 week later, performance was much greater
after spaced practice. In Experiment 2, students first learned to solve multiple types of problems, and practice problems
were either blocked by type (as in the standard format) or randomly mixed (as in the shuffled format). When tested 1 week
later, performance was vastly superior after mixed practice. Thus, the results of both experiments favored the shuffled format
over the standard format. |
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Keywords: | Mathematics Practice Distribute Mass Block Mix Interleave Spacing |
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