What is Actually Wrong with Rote Learning?

A lot of people don't like rote learning because it's not very fun. But is it effective? I explore this question with a rote learning example in learning to write Chinese characters.

0:00 An Intro to Rote Learning
1:01 Drawback 1 - Blocked Practice
2:57 Drawback 2 - Massed Practice
4:05 Drawback 3 - Skill Isolation

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REFERENCES

For a recent take on spaced (or distributed) practice, including evidence from neurological studies, read:

Gerbier, E., & Toppino, T. C. (2015). The effect of distributed practice: Neuroscience, cognition, and education. Trends in Neuroscience and Education, 4(3), 49–59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tine.2015.0...

If you want a more academic take, discussing theories and the available evidence circa 2006, check out:

Cepeda, N. J., Pashler, H., Vul, E., Wixted, J. T., & Rohrer, D. (2006). Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks: A review and quantitative synthesis. Psychological Bulletin, 132(3), 354–380. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.132...

For a readable piece on the advantages (and potential drawbacks) of interleaved practice, check out:

Kang, S. H. (2016). The benefits of interleaved practice for learning. In From the laboratory to the classroom (pp. 79-90). Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapter...

And a great piece on how to leverage interleaved, spaced, and skill-building practice in the classroom is here:

Hughes, C. A., & Lee, J. Y. (2019). Effective approaches for scheduling and formatting practice: Distributed, cumulative, and interleaved practice. Teaching Exceptional Children, 51(6), 411-423. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/...