Interleave Practice to Promote Students’ Problem Solving Fluency in Mathematics

Edsel P. Baba^1, and Laila S. Lomibao¹

¹University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines, Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines

Cite this paper:
Edsel P. Baba and Laila S. Lomibao. Interleave Practice to Promote Students’ Problem Solving Fluency in Mathematics. American Journal of Educational Research. 2022; 10(4):233-237. doi: 10.12691/education-10-4-11

Abstract

Traditionally, practice exercises, activities, and assessments were organized in blocks in many textbooks and learning materials. That is, each practice exercise contains only its assigned topic. This type of practice was referred to as block practice. In contrast, interleave practice involves alternating assignments, activities, and assessments. This research aimed to investigate the effect of interleaved practice incorporated into a learning module on the problem-solving fluency of students officially enrolled in Mathematics in the Modern World (MMW) at St. Michael's College, Iligan City. To further investigate the effectiveness of interleave practice in enhancing students' problem-solving fluency, the study adopted a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest control design. Two intact sections composed of 54 participants were used: one experimental group (n = 28) was exposed to an interleaved practice-learning module, whereas the control group (n = 26) was exposed to a traditional (block practice) learning module. To analyze the result of the data, the researcher utilizes mean, standard deviation, and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). The data analysis resulted in interleave practice significantly increased students' Problem-Solving Fluency test scores compared to conventional practice. It is recommended that interleave practice be incorporated into assignments, activities, and evaluations. A large scale of the responder is studied, including other institutions, to maximize the intervention's effectiveness.

Keywords:
interleave practice block practice problem-solving fluency

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