Independent learning tasks

5. Self-explanation 
This strategy is used when students’ explain how new information 
relates to things they already know. Relating novel content to prior 
knowledge creates new connections and facilitates the development of 
schemes. 
4. Elaborative interrogation 
This strategy involves asking and answering Why and How questions. 
That is, thinking about a subject in more depth and detail, which 
strengthens connections in the brain. 
3. Interleaved practice 
Interleaving is the strategy of mixing up the order of questions across 
different topics. Research reveals this technique to be particularly 
effective in when teaching Maths and parts of the Science content. 
Commonly, students learn strategy A and solve a series of problems 
that demand strategy A, and then do the same with strategy B. 
Interleaving would be to learn strategy A and strategy B, and solve 
problems that can demand one or the other in a pseudo-random order. 
This way, students need to figure out the right strategy from the problem 
itself, which leads to a deeper understanding of the topic and better 
preparation for exams. 
2. Distributed practice 
Distributed practice is basically the opposite of cramming. Research 
consistently shows that studying small chunks of content spread out 
over time is more effective than studying long blocks of the same topic 
only once. To use it successfully, students should start preparing way 
ahead of their exam dates and organise their time with a calendar. In 
the classroom, teachers should review not only the previous lesson but 
also lessons from much earlier. 
1. Practice testing 
The most effective strategy according to Dunlosky’s research is practice 
testing. It consists of studying and reviewing by answering questions 
and actively bringing information back to mind. When this is done, 
information is reconsolidated, new connections are created, and 
memory and understanding are strengthened. When reviewing topics in 
class, teachers should always include low-stake quizzes. These can be 
of various types, as long as they demand active retrieval. Immediate 
feedback should be provided.