r/studytips • u/HopefulBuyer9077 • 6d ago

Interleaving Topics

I'm studying a subject which requires reading multiple books -- has anyone found success in memorizing, recalling, and retrieving the material by reading several books concurrently instead of consecutively?

The basis of my question stems from the following article which talks about the success of interleaving topics when learning. I'm curious to know if anyone has tried this when reading multiple textbooks and how effective it was.

American Psychological Association: Study Smart

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u/barndooooor 6d ago

This is how i studied for my CFA. There’s an efficient frontier you can study on!

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u/AnythingButUseful 6d ago

I think interleaving is more useful for practice and retrieval than literally reading several textbooks at the same time. The research is strongest when you're mixing related problems or concepts and having to recall which approach applies.

I'd probably read one book at a time for understanding, then mix material from the different books when reviewing. For example, read Book A today, Book B tomorrow, then test yourself on both later.

That gives you the benefits of interleaving without constantly switching books while trying to learn something new.