Science-backed methods to help students learn more effectively
In Ancient Rome, education was seen as very important and learning in public schools was heavily disciplined.
This was to encourage the belief that boys would learn more quickly and accurately if they were in constant fear of making mistakes.
Fortunately, such practices are no longer allowed (along with the rule that only boys could receive an education).
In modern society, there has been an increasing amount of evidence from researchers on several science-backed studying strategies that are proven to be effective.
Gone are the days of cramming and say hello to Spaced Repetition, Interleaving, and Hypercorrect methods.
Spaced Repetition
Spaced Repetition, also known as Distributed practice, is the strategy of studying material over a number of relatively short sessions.
According to a study done in 2013, researchers evaluated the 10 most commonly used learning techniques and found that the spaced repetition method was one of the most highly effective studying techniques.
Spacing out learning over time (i.e. 1–2 hours every other day, or a few times a week) was proven to be more effective in retaining more information and for longer.
According to another study from 2006 titled “Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks: A review and quantitative synthesis” published in Psychological Bulletin, the effect of spacing out learning sessions has been demonstrated in over 200 research studies from over a century of research.
In summary — Don’t cram.
Interleave
How often have you heard of the phrase “Practice makes perfect”? We’ve always believed that the key to learning complex concepts is to learn it in blocks where you start with the basics and move on to the next step only when you’ve mastered the current skill. This blocking concept is dominant in schools, training programs, and other settings.
Interleaving is a learning method that’s been gaining popularity in the education world and is proven to be more effective than the traditional blocking method. It’s a technique of combining, mixing, or interleaving different concepts, subjects, or topics to study in one session.
Numerous studies across fields like mathematics (algebra and geometry), athletics (baseball and basketball), music, and medicine suggest that interleaving leads to key benefits for learners:
– Interleaving trains the brain to traverse between concepts by creating different practices rather than relying on rote response or muscle memory.
– Interleaving deepens long-term memory (brain and muscle) associations because mind and body are retrieving various responses.
– Interleaving requires students to discriminate among problem types and select a problem-solving strategy.
How can we use Interleave in practice?
To interleave while studying, students can choose several different topics and spread them throughout their study sessions. For example, studying biology and chemistry together can result in making new connections between topics and help with retrieving information more effectively.
At Wiz, interleaving is one of the teaching techniques that we actively adopt in our classes. Students are taught different areas of STEM to help them grasp a wider topic.
The best example at Wiz is through our competitions. Competitions combine different STEM concepts that students can learn and explore.
For the current Wiz Prodigy Online STEM Competition, students are taught coding and engineering skills in which they are required to use to build their robot. Additionally, the competition also encourages project management and presentation skills.
Learn more about the Wiz Prodigy Competition here.
Hypercorrect
The Hypercorrection effect happens once a general knowledge information is confidently misremembered by someone and the person learns the right version after their initial response is corrected, their likelihood of remembering this piece of information will be higher than someone who was unsure of their initial answer.
Hypercorrect is another technique that’s often used in Wiz classrooms. We love to encourage students to have the opportunity to speak up and participate because that’s the best way to learn!
Now that you’ve learned the 3 studying tips backed by science, do you have one that you are currently using or you would like to try?
Let us know!
About the Wiz Prodigy Online STEM Competition
We are hosting the 2022 edition of the Wiz Prodigy Online STEM Competition right now at Wiz Robotics. This year’s theme will be around the space rover.
Each individual or team registration will come with an at-home robotics kit accompanied by the Wiz online learning platform so you can learn to code and build your rover from scratch.
You can learn more about the 2022 Wiz Prodigy Online STEM Competition directly on the website. Be sure to also check out the amazing Cybertruck creations from the 2021 Wiz Prodigy Competition!
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Sources
“Education in Ancient Rome”. HistoryLearning.com. 2015. Web.
“The What, Why, and How Of ‘Interleaving’”. edweek.org. 2021. Web.
“Hypercorrection”. Wikipedia. Web.