How can we use retrieval, spacing and possibly interleaving to create a curriculum that promotes meaingful learning?

1. Interweaving
THE ROLE OF RETRIEVAL, SPACING AND INTERLEAVING
IN THE CURRICULUM
BY MARK ENSER

2. Interweaving the Curriculum:
Retrieval, Spacing and
Interleaving.
Changing a culture: from doing to learning
Episodic memories were created in a
culture of doing.
These episodic memories can be
unconnected to the thing that was
meant to be learnt.
“It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound
and fury, signifying nothing.”

3. Interweaving the Curriculum:
Retrieval, Spacing and
Interleaving.
Changing a culture: from doing to learning

4. Interweaving the Curriculum:
Retrieval, Spacing and
Interleaving.
Changing a culture: from doing to learning

5. Interweaving the Curriculum:
Retrieval, Spacing and
Interleaving.
Changing a culture: from doing to learning
Spacing Effects in Learning, a Temporal Ridgeline of Optimal
Retention (Cepeda et al 2008)
“If a person wishes to retain information for several years, a
delayed review of at least several months seems likely to
produce a highly favorable return on a time investment—
potentially doubling the amount ultimately remembered,
holding study time constant—as compared to less
temporally distributed study.”

6. Interweaving the Curriculum:
Retrieval, Spacing and
Interleaving.
Changing a culture: from doing to learning
Spacing Effects in Learning, a Temporal Ridgeline of Optimal
Retention (Cepeda et al 2008)
Credit: Damian Benney
https://mrbenney.wordpress.com/
2016/11/03/optimal-time-for-
spacing-gaps/

7. Interweaving the Curriculum:
Retrieval, Spacing and
Interleaving.
Interleaving: What it is

8. Interweaving the Curriculum:
Retrieval, Spacing and
Interleaving.
Interleaving: What it is

9. Interweaving the Curriculum:
Retrieval, Spacing and
Interleaving.
Interleaving: What it is

10. Interweaving the Curriculum:
Retrieval, Spacing and
Interleaving.
Interleaving: What it isn’t
Monday – Tectonics
Tuesday – Urbanisation
Friday – Resource Management
Tuesday – Urbanisation
Friday – Resource Management

11. Interweaving the Curriculum:
Retrieval, Spacing and
Interleaving.
From Interleaving to
Interweaving
 Recalling things improves
retrieval strength.
 Isolated pieces of information
are harder to recall.
 We want to take our pupils on
a journey. A curriculum.

12. Interweaving the Curriculum:
Retrieval, Spacing and
Interleaving.
From interleaving to interweaving
Topics can become silos of information.
Experts will see the links between them
Novices won’t always see these links.

13. Interweaving the Curriculum:
Retrieval, Spacing and
Interleaving.
From interleaving to interweaving
Term One: Geography of Sport
Term Two: Urbanisation
Term Three: Tectonics
Term Four: Brazil
Term Five: Weather & Climate
Term Six: Geography of Disease

14. Interweaving the Curriculum:
Retrieval, Spacing and
Interleaving.

15. Interweaving the Curriculum:
Retrieval, Spacing and
Interleaving.
We need to weave together the threads of our subject to reveal the
big picture.

16. Interweaving the Curriculum:
Retrieval, Spacing and
Interleaving.
Step One: What is your big picture?
“We want our pupils to leave here being able to understand why the
world is the way it is; both the physical and human process that have
shaped it and continue to shape it.”

17. Interweaving the Curriculum:
Retrieval, Spacing and
Interleaving.
Step Two: What do pupils need to know?
“We want our pupils to leave here being able to understand why the
world is the way it is; both the physical and human process that have
shaped it and continue to shape it.”
 Fundamental knowledge
 Threshold concepts
 Examples

18. Interweaving the Curriculum:
Retrieval, Spacing and
Interleaving.
Step Three: How will it be best structured?
“To understand X they first need to understand…”

19. Interweaving the Curriculum:
Retrieval, Spacing and
Interleaving.
Step Four: Where are the connections?

21. Interweaving the Curriculum:
Retrieval, Spacing and
Interleaving.
Step Five: Build it into the planning
 Places referenced
 Use of images
 Knowledge organisers
 Retrieval quizzes
 Assessments

22. Interweaving the Curriculum:
Retrieval, Spacing and
Interleaving.
Conclusion
Retrieval, spacing and interleaving can help move us from a culture of
doing to a culture of learning.
More importantly they can be a tool for creating a rich curriculum that
weaves the big picture of our subject.

23. Interweaving the Curriculum:
Retrieval, Spacing and
Interleaving.
Mark Enser
@EnserMark
Teachreal.wordpress.com