ERIC Number: EJ1137230
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013
Pages: 24
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1675-8110
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Inductive Learning: Does Interleaving Exemplars Affect Long-Term Retention?
Zulkiply, Norehan; Burt, Jennifer S.
Malaysian Journal of Learning and Instruction, v10 p133-155 2013
Purpose: The present study investigated whether or not the benefits of interleaving of exemplars from several categories vary with retention interval in inductive learning. Methodology: Two experiments were conducted using paintings (Experiment 1) and textual materials (Experiment 2), and the experiments used a mixed factorial design. Forty students participated in each experiment for course credit. In each experiment, participants studied a series of exemplars from several categories which were presented massed and interleaved, and later their induction was tested either shortly after the study phase (short-term retention) or after a week's delay (long- term retention). Findings: Consistent with findings from previous studies, the interleaving effect was found in the short-term retention condition, and crucially, the present study provided the initial evidence that interleaving of exemplars also affected long-term retention. Interestingly, massing was judged to be more effective than spacing (interleaving) in most groups, even when actual performance showed the opposite. Significance: The present study shows that interleaved exemplars have considerable potential in improving inductive learning in the long term. For example, induction is used in case-based reasoning which requires one to start with learning from specific cases, and then form generalizations of these cases by identifying the commonalities between them. In order to enhance long-term retention, educators may want to consider using interleaved presentation rather than massed presentation in teaching examples or cases from a particular category or concept.
Descriptors: Retention (Psychology), Learning, Painting (Visual Arts), Evaluative Thinking, Statistical Analysis, Teaching Methods, College Students, Logical Thinking
Universiti Utara Malaysia Press. UUM Press, Universiti Utara Malaysia, 08010 UUM Sintok, Kedah, Malaysia. Tel: +60-4-928-4816; Fax: +60-4-928-4792; e-mail: uumpress@uum.edu.my; Web site: http://mjli.uum.edu.my/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A