Previous research has shown that the sequence in whichconcepts are studied changes how well they are learned. In aseries of experiments featuring naturalistic concepts(psychology concepts) and naïve learners, we extend previousresearch by showing that the sequence of study changes therepresentation the learner creates of the study materials.Interleaved study leads to the creation of relatively interrelatedconcepts that are represented by contrast to each other andbased on discriminating properties. Blocked study, instead,leads to the creation of relatively isolated concepts that arerepresented in terms of their central and characteristicproperties. The relative benefits of these representationsdepend on whether the test of conceptual knowledge requirescontrastive or characteristic information. These results arguefor the integrated investigation of the benefits of differentsequences of study as depending on the characteristics of thestudy and testing situation as a whole.

We compared students’ exam performance following one oftwo different types of active learning assignments. In oneversion students read text describing experimental evidence forthe principle being studied. In the other version, studentsinstead created a hypothesis and explanation, and then studiedand explained the results. The content was matched acrossconditions. Students performed better in exams requiringgeneralization to novel situations, after providing hypothesesand explanations than after reading the text and answeringquestions about it. These results suggest that prediction andexplanation cycles might be a better active learning approachto promote generalization and transfer than practice questions.

We explore how context change and item variation duringnatural category learning influence memory and generalizationto new examples. Participants studied either images of the samebird or varied birds from each of several categories. Theseimages could be presented in a constant background color ordifferent background colors. During test, birds were presentedin only one of the studied background colors. Performance attest depended on the context overlap between study and test,with better performance when there was minimal contextchange during study. Also, contrary to previous findings, wefound that learners generalized better when items wererepeated during study and remembered old items better whenitems were varied during study. When there is a moderatedegree of context change, there is no benefit of repetition orvariation for either novel or old items. These results indicatethat context change and item variation have complementaryeffects on learning.

Learning by doing refers to learning practices that involvecompleting activities as opposed to explicit learning (e.g.,reading). Although the benefits of learning by doing have beendescribed before, it is still relatively uncommon in instructionalpractice. We investigated how much students employ learningby doing in online courses, and whether it is associated withimproved learning outcomes. Spending more time completingactivities had a larger impact on learning outcomes thanspending more time reading, even in the case of mostlydeclarative content, such as in a Psychology course. Moreover,learning by doing is more efficient: grade improvements of 1standard-deviation require 10-20% less time in learning bydoing than reading. Finally, we contrast this evidence withstudents’ a priori intuitions on best study strategies for theironline course. Students overestimate the value of explicitlearning through reading, and underestimate the value of activelearning.

Study sequence can have a profound impact on learning. Previous research has often shown advantages for interleaved over blocked study, though the reverse has also been found. Learners typically prefer blocking even in situations for which interleaving is superior. The present study investigated learner regulation of study sequence, and its effects on learning in an ecologically valid context – university students using an online tutorial relevant to an exam that counted toward their course grades. The majority of participants blocked study by problem category, and this tendency was positively associated with subsequent exam performance. The results suggest that preference for blocked study may be adaptive under some circumstances, and highlight the importance of identifying task environments under which different study sequences are most effective.