I had an interesting conversation recently with one of our people who is participating in the Certificate IV in Employment Services program here at TSAEP. They were afraid there was something wrong with their ability to process, store and recall information, because they were struggling to complete assessment activities following their facilitated workshop sessions. When I asked them about their study habits, they said they diligently turned up for their web conference workshops, paid attention and read the material they were required to. Their concern was that when, some weeks later, they sat down to complete their assessment tasks for a unit, they couldn’t recall enough information to do them to the standard they expected of themselves.
To anyone with experience in the learning field, diagnosing the issue here isn’t rocket science - it’s simple brain science. It did get me thinking, though, about how well we, as an organisation, have prepared our people to make the most of their learning opportunities. It’s trite to say that learning how to learn is a critical skill, and one that people often leave formal schooling without, but there’s a big difference between recognising that fact and actually doing something about it.
Of course, the problem my colleague was coming up against was that their study strategy wasn’t effective in the face of the reality of how memory and cognition actually work. Hermann Ebbinghaus developed his theory of how quickly new information is forgotten in the last 19th century. His Forgetting Curve is charts one of the most robust findings in cognitive science, and should form the basis of any effective “How to Study Effectively” program.
For anyone not familiar with Ebbinghaus’ work, his research found that retention of new information starts to degrade in minutes. By the next day, about two-thirds of those (perhaps important) facts, figures and info will be gone. Recall degrades further with time until somewhere between 10 and 20 per cent of the information may be left after a few weeks. Treat these figures as averages, of course - they vary for individuals and between studies - but the underlying mechanism is not disputed. We know this instinctively; information becomes harder to recall as time passes.
So how do we improve the chance of retaining the important bits?
Fortunately, we’re not helpless in the face of such “lossy” biological memory. The short answer to the question above is, “Practice, practice, practice!”
Repeated, staged practice at regular intervals that’s as realistic as possible is the number one strategy to help improve recall. In addition, linking the new information to things the person learning it already knows, and helping them build their own links, provides crucial support. Finally, beyond simple practice, putting the knowledge or skills into use as soon as possible after learning them is essential (anyway, if they’re learning something they don’t need to put into action pretty much straight away, why are we wasting their time and ours training it?).
Realistic practice
The closer the practice is to the environment in which the knowledge and/or skills are to be used, the better. Forget about multiple-choice questions, tick-a-box exercises or dragging and dropping words on the screen. It’s fine to test someone’s understanding of underlying theory using a combination of these tools, but if they are learning something they need to do at work, especially something that involves manual skills or doing things in the the proper order, make the practice realistic. I’ve seen too many programs using question and answer assessments to check whether someone has learned to use a new piece of software. It’s wasteful, and if you think about that kind of example, it doesn’t even make sense. Meaningful practice and assessment is not about using whatever’s most convenient for the person who developed the training.
Spaced practice
We also need to ensure we space out the practice and revision - after all, lumping it all together is just cramming, and our problem to begin with was cramming doesn’t work. The time you leave between exercises or parts of an assessment can vary depending upon what the objective of the training is, but practice over time is much more effective than 30 minutes’ practice at the end of a training session that is never repeated.
Repetition strengthens new neural pathways that form the basis of our memories, and anything meaningful will benefit from repeatedly revisiting the information, especially doing so in the same context in which it will be utilised.
Putting it all to work
People who are novices at a new task or process will need support as they begin to put their new knowledge or skills to work. This support should always be considered when compiling the training plan for whatever intervention we choose to use. The options are almost endless, but things like job aids, access to online how-to’s and assistance from a local expert (or perhaps having one available via phone or web conference) can greatly ease the transition to mastery of the new information.
Sometimes, it’s important that a person is able to demonstrate a certain level of profiency before they are allowed to put the new knowledge to work. In this case, we need to ensure our assessment and certification process (we’re not necessarily talking about formal certification here, but a process where someone knowledgeable is willing to sign off on the newcomer’s competency level) is robust enough to provide an accurate picture of where the person’s skill level sits. Would you pay for a seat on a flight crewed by two brand new pilots who’d graduated from correspondence school and who have not actually entered a plane until today?
Pulling it all together
I’m glad the person enrolled in our Certificate IV program spoke to me the other day. Not only did it give me the chance to introduce them to some more effective study methods, but it also acted as a reminder to me not to simply assume that people know how to give themselves the best chance to successfully learn new things. It got me thinking about the kind of things we can do to steer people toward good learning habits from their first days with TSAEP. Those good habits have benefits not simply for formal learning; rather, people who know how to maximise their chances of learning successfully should be able to apply that knowledge to any kind of learning opportunity. I think it should also play a part in helping our people look at the potential for change and uncertainty with the confidence they can adapt and grow in ways that allow them to successfully transition with the environment. And that kind of positive outlook is worth its weight in gold in any business (and for any individual, for that matter).
- March 25
- , 2011
