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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.
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