📦 Blocking Definition
Blocking is the way of doing one skill or taking one subject until one is capable of mastering it then only to move to another one, and also studying subjects in separate, concentrated chunks.
🔀 Interleaving Definition
Interleaving consists of mixing different subjects or types of problems within a single study session, switching between concepts rather than finishing one completely at a time.
⚡ Practice Structure Difference
Blocking applies AAAA-BBBB-CCCC scheme where as interleaving implements ABCABCABC scheme which digitally changes the material organization and the way it is encountered during the learning process.
🎯 Short-Term Performance
Blocking gives rise to an immediate performance and confidence boost higher than that of other techniques, thus making learners think they are mastering the material very fast and effectively.
🧠 Long-Term Retention
Interleaving has been shown to produce better long-term retention and transfer of knowledge even though it felt harder at first because the cognitive challenges strengthen memory consolidation and discrimination skills.
🔍 Cognitive Demand
Blocking allows for lower mental effort since automatic pattern recognition is involved, while interleaving requires the continuous application of active discrimination, problem identification, and strategy selection.
📊 Test Performance
Research indicates that interleaved practice results in higher performance on delayed tests and mixed assessments whereas blocking is only beneficial for immediate, predictable evaluations.