Spreading exercises with learning materials in time has high pedagogical value.

Benefit 1 – Increased motivation and engagement

Exercises are part of active learning and help learners and trainer to find out their understanding of the subject. They provide opportunities for feedback which can have high value, if well done, on motivation and engagement

See the course on Brick 5 for more information on active learning

Benefit 2 – Enhanced long-term retention

The German psychologist Ebbinghaus demonstrated with his Forgetting Curve that information is easily forgotten if not solidified and repeated. Exercises help to reinforce memory on the long-term.

Benefit 3 – Improved understanding and mastery

Intertwining exercises and learning material helps learners to process and understand concepts, as each learning material provided can be reinforced with an exercise allowing the learner to go farther on the subject ( ex by explaining with own words, making researches, reflecting on own practices…). It is essentially with exercises that we can move forward on the Bloom’s taxonomy, and not get stuck on the first 2 levels.

Benefit 4 – Preventing cognitive overloads

I guess we have all known and suffered the same situation, when after a long class without exercises, we felt exhausted and without having learn anything. John SWELLER analysed the situation and concluded with the theory that our working memory has limited capacity! Spreading out exercises allows a better management of new information while preventing overload.