The relationship between interleaving and variability effects: A cognitive load theory perspective

Ouhao Chen; Endah Retnowati; Juan Cristobal Castro-Alonso; Fred Paas; John Sweller

doi:10.3390/educsci13111138

The relationship between interleaving and variability effects: A cognitive load theory perspective

Ouhao Chen^*, Endah Retnowati, Juan Cristobal Castro-Alonso, Fred Paas, John Sweller

^*Corresponding author for this work

Education and Social Justice

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

The interleaving effect indicates that students learn better from multiple areas that are interleaved rather than blocked. Two experiments tested the hypothesis that the effect is because interleaving facilitates comparisons between areas and is a variation of the variability effect that increases intrinsic cognitive load. Experiment 1 used an interleaved design with two obviously different topics and found no interleaving effect. Experiment 2 used a similar design but used topics that were more difficult to discriminate between, resulting in a clear advantage for the interleaved group associated with an increase in cognitive load. These results support the hypothesis that the interleaving and variability effects are closely related

Original language	English
Article number	1138
Number of pages	15
Journal	Education Sciences
Volume	13
Issue number	11
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13111138
Publication status	Published - 14 Nov 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding:
Funding from ANID/PIA/Basal Funds for Centers of Excellence FB0003 is gratefully acknowledged.

Keywords

cognitive load theory
interleaving effect
variability effect
discrimination hypothesis
working memory resources
intrinsic cognitive load

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.3390/educsci13111138Licence: Creative Commons: Attribution (CC BY)

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Cite this

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title = "The relationship between interleaving and variability effects: A cognitive load theory perspective",

abstract = "The interleaving effect indicates that students learn better from multiple areas that are interleaved rather than blocked. Two experiments tested the hypothesis that the effect is because interleaving facilitates comparisons between areas and is a variation of the variability effect that increases intrinsic cognitive load. Experiment 1 used an interleaved design with two obviously different topics and found no interleaving effect. Experiment 2 used a similar design but used topics that were more difficult to discriminate between, resulting in a clear advantage for the interleaved group associated with an increase in cognitive load. These results support the hypothesis that the interleaving and variability effects are closely related",

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AU - Chen, Ouhao

AU - Retnowati, Endah

AU - Castro-Alonso, Juan Cristobal

AU - Paas, Fred

AU - Sweller, John

N1 - Funding: Funding from ANID/PIA/Basal Funds for Centers of Excellence FB0003 is gratefully acknowledged.

PY - 2023/11/14

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N2 - The interleaving effect indicates that students learn better from multiple areas that are interleaved rather than blocked. Two experiments tested the hypothesis that the effect is because interleaving facilitates comparisons between areas and is a variation of the variability effect that increases intrinsic cognitive load. Experiment 1 used an interleaved design with two obviously different topics and found no interleaving effect. Experiment 2 used a similar design but used topics that were more difficult to discriminate between, resulting in a clear advantage for the interleaved group associated with an increase in cognitive load. These results support the hypothesis that the interleaving and variability effects are closely related

AB - The interleaving effect indicates that students learn better from multiple areas that are interleaved rather than blocked. Two experiments tested the hypothesis that the effect is because interleaving facilitates comparisons between areas and is a variation of the variability effect that increases intrinsic cognitive load. Experiment 1 used an interleaved design with two obviously different topics and found no interleaving effect. Experiment 2 used a similar design but used topics that were more difficult to discriminate between, resulting in a clear advantage for the interleaved group associated with an increase in cognitive load. These results support the hypothesis that the interleaving and variability effects are closely related

KW - cognitive load theory

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KW - discrimination hypothesis

KW - working memory resources

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JO - Education Sciences

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ER -

The relationship between interleaving and variability effects: A cognitive load theory perspective

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

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