Mixed practice: interleave your problem sets

List the topics you are practising and how many problems from each. You get one order that mixes them, to tick off as you go.

Loading

Why this works

In a small experiment with maths problems, students who practised four kinds of volume problems in a shuffled order scored lower during practice than students who did each kind in a block (60% against 89%), but far higher on a test a week later (63% against 20%) (Rohrer and Taylor, 2007).

It was a small study of 18 students on maths problems, not of GATE or engineering problems. Mixing also feels harder while you do it, which is expected, not a sign it is failing.

  • Source: Rohrer, D., & Taylor, K. (2007). The shuffling of mathematics problems improves learning. Instructional Science, 35(6), 481-498. doi:10.1007/s11251-007-9015-8

Worked example

Three Networks topics, two problems each
OrderTopic
1Thevenin
2Norton
3Superposition
4Norton
5Superposition
6Thevenin
Test yourselfAdd a question and its answer.Spaced revision schedulerAdd a topic and the day you learned it.Time estimate checkerEstimate a task in minutes, do it, then add how long it really took.

Everything you enter stays in this browser. Sign up to keep it in sync across devices.