You know practice is critical for long-term learning, butyou don’t want to be a dictator. You want learners to feel empowered after aneLearning experience, to assume some control over their professionaldevelopment.
But if learners don’t practice effectively, yourwell-designed modules could be all for naught. Should you trust them to practiceon their own?
A recent study demonstrates that, when left to their owndevices, learners think they practiceeffectively—but they don’t.
Researchers have uncovered several problems with the waylearners practice: They don’t practice often enough; they practice the wrongthings; they think they’ve “got it” way too soon; and they give themselvescredit for a right answer even when it’s wrong.
Bottom line: Don’t assume your users will know how topractice effectively. Design practice as carefully as you do the learningmodules themselves. Here are some research-based practice tips that help lockin learning:
Don’t overlook thepower of the quiz. Learners from kindergarten to the C-suite groan at theidea of taking a quiz. But assessments have gotten a bad rap. They aren’t merelyan evaluative tool, or a punitive measure, but a valuable retrieval event. Whenlearners work to recall information during a quiz, it strengthens theirlong-term memory. Build quizzes and other assessments into your modules toreinforce learning.
Provide feedback.Give learners timely and meaningful feedback after every assessment. If alearner gets an answer wrong, provide the correct answer and as well as anexplanation for why that choice is correct. Constructive feedback is amotivator for adult learners. When learners see their weaknesses, they knowwhere to focus their efforts when practicing on their own.
Self-explanation.Create a forum where learners can share their understanding of a module. Asklearners to verbalize the key points in their own words and record it usingtheir computer’s internal microphone or camera. The act of explaining will makelearners think critically about the content and distill it down to the coretakeaways. Plus, down the road they can revisit the post to refresh theirmemory.
Learning blog. Considerconnecting a blog or message board to each module. Ask learners to create apost describing how they plan to apply the newly learned skill or technique intheir career. Thinking about a personal application causes learners to deeplyconsider and process the content. This activity enhances their understanding,strengthens memory, and develops new connections to existing knowledge. And ifyou make the blogs public, learners can comment on each other’s posts, creatinga social element.
Provide a schedule forpractice sessions. Learners need repeated retrieval practice to makelearning stick. A spaced practiceschedule will ensure that they get the most out of their practice experiences. Eachtime information is reinforced, forgetting takes longer. Plan shortreinforcement intervals right after the initial training and then extend themover time. Use automated emails or push notifications to alert learners of thenext practice event. Research suggests that you should schedule the firstfollow-up session within three or four days. Then schedule the next one fivedays out, then perhaps eight days out. Schedule about four or five intervalsover two months.
Practice isn’t about judging learners or giving them busywork. It’s about providing them with the tools to learn effectively. Researchsuggests they can’t do it on their own. Help them help themselves.
