Chunking and sequencing learning
Teachers break information into manageable chunks and present it in a logical sequence with frequent opportunities for students to practise.
Chunking and sequencing learning is an explicit teaching strategy. It involves chunking learning into manageable components to reduce demand on students’ working memory. Sequencing those chunks in a logical progression supports students to incorporate new information into their mental model, or schema (AERO 2024).
When learning is new, students have limited capacity to compute more than a few pieces of new information. Teachers select pieces of information to introduce together. Practise allows students to consolidate this learning into a schema in their long-term memory. When it is retrieved from long-term memory as a schema it takes up less space in the working memory. Teachers sequence the next pieces of learning to add to the schema. This is how students can learn highly complex concepts (AERO 2022).
Image adapted from Australian Education Research Organisation Limited (AERO) (2023) Explicit instruction and licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Strategy learning module
The Chunking and sequencing strategy learning module (PPTX 12.7 MB):
- breaks down the strategy
- shows how the strategy can be applied using different techniques
- offers professional learning support for a whole-school approach to explicit teaching.
More information about how to implement this professional learning can be found in Leading explicit teaching.
Technique guides
Explicit teaching strategies are implemented in the classroom through a range of techniques intentionally selected by the teacher. These techniques are not an exhaustive list of every approach a teacher may use to implement this strategy. The technique guides provide support to teachers in understanding and applying the technique as part of their explicit teaching practice.
What it isn’t
- Chunking and sequencing activities rather than chunking and sequencing knowledge and skills
- Using existing programs, units or lesson plans without responding to evidence and data about your students
- Moving on to new information without checking for accurate understanding from students
- Reducing the expectations for students when learning is new and complex
Further resources
- AERO (Australian Education Research Organisation) (2024) Teach explicitly.
- CESE (Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation) (2017) Cognitive load theory: research that teachers really need to understand.
AERO (Australian Education Research Organisation) (2022) Explicit instruction, AERO, accessed 16 April 2024.
AERO (Australian Education Research Organisation) (2024) Explicit instruction optimises learning: Implications for policymakers, AERO, accessed 18 April 2024.