| Abstract | Learning to classify information into concepts and categories is an essential
component to educational success. However, learning to correctly classify examples into a
given category can be challenging, particularly when learning STEAM (Science,
Technology, Engineering, Art, & Math) categories. Two factors that may impact STEAM
category learning are category organization and study order. For example, when learning
geological categories, the information may be organized into basic categories such as igneous
and metamorphic rocks; or the information may be organized into subcategories such as
granite and peridotite (which are types of igneous rocks). When studying either subcategories
or basic categories, students may decide to study in blocks, such that a student would study
several examples from the same category in a row; or they could study the categories in an
interleaved order, such that the categories are mixed together. The discriminative contrast
hypothesis suggests that the study order most beneficial to learning may be contingent to
category organization. Thus, the goal of the present dissertation was to systematically
evaluate the impact of study order and category organization from the lens of the
discriminative contrast hypothesis. Across a Pilot experiment and two high-powered
experiments, study order did not significantly influence classification performance when
learning most geological categories. However, interleaving categories during learning was
beneficial to novel classification performance for students who learned basic categories with
many exemplars. Whereas study order did not impact classification performance for most
groups, category structure did impact classification performance. Specifically, students who
learned to classify geological subcategories performed significantly better on the
classification tests than did students who learned basic geological categories. The present
results are inconsistent with the discriminative contrast hypothesis and indicate a nuanced
context in which study order influences STEAM category learning. |
