Interleaving, elaboration, examples and dual coding

Once retrieval and spacing are part of your routine, four more strategies can deepen your understanding: mixing problem types, asking how and why, using several examples, and pairing words with visuals.

Interleaving: mix up your practice

• Interleaving means mixing different topics or problem types in one practice session, instead of doing many of the same type in a row (called 'blocking').
• In maths, for example, the Learning Scientists suggest solving a mix of problem types (say, area, percentages and simultaneous equations) rather than 20 of one kind.
• Mixing helps you learn to choose the right method, which is exactly what an exam asks you to do when questions are not labelled.
• Expect more mistakes during practice. The Learning Scientists note that interleaving usually causes more errors at first, but knowledge is retained longer.
• Dunlosky et al. (2013) rated interleaved practice as moderate utility: promising, with less evidence than retrieval and spacing.
• Interleave related topics within a subject (for example, different types of physics calculations), not random subjects every two minutes.

Elaboration: ask how and why

• Elaboration means asking yourself how and why questions about what you are learning and trying to answer them.
• Example: instead of memorising 'the UAE uses desalination', ask why a country with little rainfall depends on it and how the process works.
• Link new ideas to your own life and to other topics, and compare similar ideas: how is mitosis similar to and different from meiosis?
• Dunlosky et al. rated elaborative interrogation and self-explanation (explaining steps to yourself) as moderate utility.
• Check your explanations against your notes or textbook, because a confident wrong explanation can stick too.

Concrete examples

• Abstract ideas such as 'scarcity' or 'opportunity cost' are easier to understand through specific examples.
• The Learning Scientists recommend using several examples with different surface details, then linking each one back to the underlying idea.
• Their example: airline tickets and water during a drought are both cases of scarcity, even though they look different. Think of flights selling out before Eid holidays.
• One example alone can mislead you into remembering the surface details (planes) rather than the principle (scarcity).
• Collect examples from your teacher and textbook, and practise explaining what they have in common.

Dual coding: words plus visuals

• Dual coding means combining words with visuals such as diagrams, timelines, flowcharts or labelled sketches.
• Draw the water cycle and explain each arrow in words; turn a history chapter into a timeline with short captions.
• The Learning Scientists advise using more than one representation of the same idea and explaining to yourself how they show the same thing.
• Dual coding is not the same as 'learning styles'. The Learning Scientists explain that matching teaching to a preferred style ('I am a visual learner') does not improve learning, while using several representations does.
• Your drawings do not need to be artistic. Simple boxes, arrows and labels are enough.

Putting it together in one session

• Start with 5 minutes of retrieval (brain dump on last week's topic).
• Then do a mixed set of practice questions across three related topics (interleaving).
• For any question you got wrong, write a how or why explanation (elaboration) and sketch a quick diagram (dual coding).
• Finish by writing one new concrete example of the main idea in your own words.
• Space the next session for the same topics a few days later.